Will and Angel Boy
by nbaluver11
Summary: Yes, this Solangelo fanfic begins with is the typical 3 Days in Infirmary, but those go by quickly, and the plot expands much deeper. A new monster army arises (uhg, not again), will Solangelo make it?
1. Chapter 1

**Hi everyone. Thanks for reading this Solangelo fanfic. I know the beginning is a little slow, but it will definitely pick up in the following chapters. Feedback is always great, and I hope you like it...**

Chapter 1:

"Okay, you said you want me in the infirmary three days. Here I am," I huff and try to act annoyed. "I should be the least of your worries. I summoned a skeleton this morning and only faded for like an hour."

"You did what?" Will whips his head around and his blonde curls follow, bobbing around his head cutely. "I _told _you not to do any more Underworldl-_y_ stuff. I might make you stay an extra day for defying the doctor's orders."

I tap my foot and lean on the infirmary wall. Will and his Apollo campers have set up a temporary field hospital near the Strawberry Fields for all the wounded demigods. He drops his bandages and pokes me right in the chest. "You are _not _fading into oblivion on my watch. From now on, you're limited to here and the Mess Hall. Nowhere else."

I stare at him dumbly. "What-? You can't do that! You can't just tell me where I can and can't do." I try and act mad, because it's impossible to act mad in front of him.

Will locks eyes with me and I control myself from being lost in them. "Well too bad, Death Angle, for once you don't get what you want." He nudges me out of his way and walks to the door. "This is your room for the next few days. Get comfortable. I'll be back in a few minutes to start your checkup."

"_Angel Boy? _What does that even mean?" I look at him in confusion. Did he just give me a _nickname?_ Will doesn't even respond, he leaves the room and I let out my breath. What's been going on in my mind has been hard to come to terms with. I've just gotten over Percy and now I'm deeper in love with someone else.

I huff again and sit on the bed. The room looks pretty professional, it has a bed, sink, and a bathroom. I go to the sink and wash my face, hoping to clear my mind. The butterflies from my chest haven't left, but they feel oddly good.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you all for your support, and sorry if this intro is going to be a little long. I'll be having a regular uploading of Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. And I know Part 2 is a little lengthy and boring, but I promise you next part will heat up a little. Thanks for sticking around. Enjoy.**

Chapter 2:

"Okay, Angel Boy. Let's see what's wrong with you," Will walks in with the dorkiest outfit imaginable, and I love it. He's dressed in a white lab coat that goes all the way to his knees and a stethoscope that makes him look like a halloween costume doctor.

He brings it out and places it on my chest. His touch sends electricity through my body. "You're going to need to take off that aviator jacket."

I don't even register what he says until a moment later. I'm still trying to stay in control of myself. "Oh come on, is that really necessary?" I groan in mock pain. I strip off my jacket and put it on the ground. All I'm wearing is my t-shirt, but I feel so exposed.

"Doctor's orders," he commands. He keeps doing the routine checkup on me, then grabs my hand.

I recoil it as soon as he touches me. He looks me in the eye and grabs my hand again. This time I don't back away. He takes my pale hand in both of his tan hands and inspects it. I will every part of my body not to turn my hand to shadow, but while he's tossing it from hand to hand, it turns into a shadow. I curse in my mind, not wanting to show how bad my _fading_ is.

"Wow, this is really bad. You're turning into shadows even when you're not doing anything," Will's voice is layered with concern. Then he turns to me and starts asking me questions. "How long has this been happening? Does more than your hand start to fade?"

I can barely think while he's looking at me, let alone answer the questions, but I manage to tell him truthfully. "Sometimes my whole arm fades at a time." I brace myself for his responce.

"This is _not_ good. Take off your shirt," Will tells me without hesitating. He takes off his doctor's gown thing.

"Um, excuse me? Why am I stripping down for you?" I get defensive, which might not be the best way to hide my emotions for him, but they tumble out anyway.

He drops his gown and rolls up with Camp Half-Blood t-shirt. He rolls his eyes and huffs, "Can you just listen to me for once. I need to start healing you and it's going to take a while. So get used to it."

I bite my lip, thinking of what to do. I give him a look of pure death and take off my t-shirt. Now I really feel exposed. I look down, uncomfortable being so bare and notice how thin I am.

He looks me up and down and comments, "You're really thin, I hope you know. It's unhealthy," he points to the bed. "Lie down on the bed."

"Well I'll admit that I'm not in the most healthy state," I reply drily. _Why an I even listening to Will? I've never listened to anyone before, _I think as I lie down. _Except Percy, of course._

I groan internally, knowing I'm sucking myself into another hopeless relationship. Except, this feels different, like there's a chance

He places his hands on my exposed stomach and I gasp audibly. I look to him with wide eyes. "Sorry, I'm not used to having physical contact."

"Well you're going to have to get over it. We'll be doing this for the next four days." I can tell he's trying to supress a smile. He seems to enjoy making me uncomfortable.

Will starts humming in Ancient Greek and I feel his hands heating up. The hotter his hands get, the more pain I feel. I almost forget about the fact that both his hands are on my stomach.

All the muscles in my body seem to be stretching past their breaking point. He keeps humming, and my body is searing in pain, but he doesn't stop. I start gasping for air, and look at Will. Even he has a strained look on his face.

I close my eyes again and try to concentrate on something else, but the pain is everywhere. I can't get comfortable, but I manage to stay relatively still.

I can feel his thoughts channeling through me, looking at all the damage to my physical body. He searches around my heart, lungs and hands to see what's wrong. I shield him away from any of my thoughts, not wanting to share any of my feelings, for him or anyone.

Will stops humming and opens his eyes. He pulls away to sit, but I'm clinging onto his t-shirt. My eyes widen and I let go, embarrassed that I was holding onto him.

He gives me a strained smile. "It's okay, that was painful to go through, even for me," he slumps into the chair facing me. "We have a lot of work to do, Angel Boy."


	3. Chapter 3

**It finally heats up. I think you'll like Sunday's upload even more. Enjoy.**

Chapter 3:

"So, what's wrong with me, doctor?" I lean back against the bed frame, tired. I don't even have the strength to put on a t-shirt.

"Well, you're being torn apart, literally. You've used too much of your powers and its been eating at your essence," Will knits his eyebrows together. "So it'll to take a while, but it can be fixed. I'm going to get us some nectar, I think we can both use some."

He gets up and leaves. I muster some strength to wash my face, hoping to clear away some of the pain. When I look up into the mirror, I can see all 24 of my ribs sticking out of my skin. My skin is a nasty pale color, not the most attractive thing in the world. I go back to the bed and put on my black t-shirt. I sit off the side of the bed, waiting for Will to come back.

A few minutes later, he comes in with two shot glasses of nectar. "To your heath," we clink our glasses together and drink. I hesitate for a moment, then drink it.

The only downside to having ambrosia or nectar is the taste. Not that it's bad, I love the cold ice-cream cake, but what it reminds me of. When I was younger, back in the 1940s, one of the only memories of my mother and sister together was of my birthday where my mom made me the best ice-cream cake ever. It always brings back sad memories, of both my mother and Bianca.

"So how long have you known about your fading?" He asks, making small-talk. I snap back into reality and take a moment to answer.

"Um ever since I went into my death-trance thing. A few weeks I'd say-," I am about to finish but he cuts me off.

"What?" He explodes. "_Weeks?_ Why haven't you told anyone?"

I look at him in shock and feel my anger rising. I get very defensive when I'm being attacked. "What do you mean? I was on the _Argo II _trying to save the world. I didn't have _time_ to worry about my heath. I was pretty busy trying to transport a freaking statue across the Atlantic." I stand up, annoyed at how stupid he's being.

"Okay, but when you came here, you could have at least told me, or anyone!" Will stands up too, obviously recovered from the healing he did. "Don't you even care about your health?"

"Not really, no," I hate when people pester me, and I'm feeling _very_ pestered right now. "Why do you care? It's not like-."

Will pulls me toward him before I can even finish. I look up to him in surprise, but before I can say anything our lips meet and we're kissing.


	4. Chapter 4

**This one's a little longer. There's a note at the end that I want you to read, but enjoy. **

Chapter 4:

It takes me a moment to register what's happening, since I was just angry at him and now he's _kissing _me. I can feel his lips pressed against mine and some part of me wants to stay there, but I recoil away.

I'm still angry at him and he can't just kiss me and make me feel better. He opens his eyes and looks at me in surprise. I guess he can tell I'm still angry, because he looks confused. He looks so funny when he's confused, I almost smile.

"No, you can't just kiss me and think that I'm not going to be mad at you," I say and glare at him. I step back and sit down on the bed, and he slumps into a chair. He runs his fingers through his hair. I look anywhere but at Will, still mad at him.

"So you're n-not gay?" Will's voice sounds scared. "J-just please don't t-tell anyone. Please."

I look at him and see him looks at me, on the verge of tears. "Wait, what are you talking about?" I don't understand why he's so distraught. "Of course I like you, but I'm pretty sure you don't ask someone out by getting them mad and then _kissing_ them."

Will's back straightens. He wipes away a tear and begins, "Wait, then why did you pull away? I'm so confused."

"So am I!" I pause to gather my thoughts. "I pulled away from your lips because I was still angry at you for annoying me."

Will lets out a laugh and lighten the air. "You had me going for a second that I just kissed a straight guy, and that would have been awkward." He pauses to feel his heartbeat. "Wow, that was a roller coaster of emotion."

We both stand up again, and I look up to see his face His eyes were still a little puffy from that quick bout of crying. "Sorry about that. I guess we're both pretty new to this _dating_ thing." I crack a smile.

"Woah there. I don't remember you ever asking me out, Angel Boy," he hits me playfully and grins. "Can I kiss you again or are you going to flip out again?"

I step toward him and his silly smile and reply. "Don't think you're off the hook for getting me mad, though." I lean upwards and press my lips against his.

I can feel him press down against my lips and wrap his arms around my back. I follow suit and push my chest up against his, my arms wrapping around him.

I've never kissed anyone before, not counting the last kiss a minute ago, and I never expected it to go like this. The last kiss was too short for me to process, and I was angry, so it clouded my senses.

The butterflies in my stomach have doubled, but they aren't out nervousness, but excitement. I have to lean my head up a good amount just to reach his lips, but it's totally worth it.

His lips are gently but firmly pressed against my lips, and heat radiates from them. I don't care that my nose is uncomfortably squished up against his face. My whole body heats up noticeably and I can't imagine how much I'm blushing. All my anger from before has dissipated into something else I haven't felt in a while, joy.

I can feel him start to smile, even with our lips together, and I smile with him. He slowly pulls away from me, but doesn't untangle his arms from my back. We lock eyes and he smiles even more. "So is that a yes?" I grin. I'm so out of breath, I can't reply more than that.

I can feel his heartbeat hammering through his ribs, even though I'm a few inches from his chest. "Yeah," he whispers back, still smiling. His blue eyes sparkle with amusement. His tousled hair is even messier, which gives him such a cute look. I realize in that moment how much I'm looking up and how tall he is.

"So, was this your plan all along? To abduct me into the hospital and keep me here until we do _that?"_ I ask him and it's his turn to blush.

"Yeah, it was," he bites his lip. "Well, I wouldn't keep you here _forever, _but I would have tried."

"That is _so_ lame," I laugh at the idea. "But so cute." I lean up and kiss him again. This one was shorter just because Will's blonde hair gets in the way and I pull away from his lips.

We both spit out his hair and laugh. "You're so cute when you laugh," he says through a smile. We seem to do a lot of smiling, and I like it.

**Before you go and judge me for whatever I did wrong (which I seem to do a lot), remember Nico's not the most socially comfortable person, and (at least I think) he would be awkward in that situation, however it would happen. **


	5. Chapter 5

**I don't know where this fanfiction will take us, but I will promise it'll be good. I think. Enjoy.**

Chapter 5:

I sit on the bed, trying to gather my thoughts, and Will comes to sit next to me. I reach out for his hand and squeeze it. "Now that you've got what you wanted, am I still confined to the hospital for half a week?"

Will's face becomes professional again. "Yeah. Don't think you're going to be getting any special treatment, Angel Boy. Your insides need a lot of fixing up."

"But I can leave the hospital, right?" I ask him, assuming he'll at least let me leave. I want to at least attend his funeral.

I've been having some mixed feelings about Leo's death. I know there's going to be a huge funeral for him, and I want to be there even if he's still alive. At first, right after the explosion and the battle, I could feel his soul leaving his body, passing into the Underworld.

But, a few hours after the battle, I felt him come back. It was such a shock, I stopped doing whatever I was doing. Souls don't come back to life often, but when they do, I can feel it. I'm pretty sure Leo's out there somewhere. IF he is, I know it's part of some crazy plan, so I'll keep my suspicions to myself.

"Nope." When I hear that, I snap my head toward Will to see if he's joking. "You're in really bad shape, dude. I wouldn't want anything to happen to you."

He reaches for my hand and I can tell he's sincere about being worried. My hand fades in his grip and for a moment, he holds nothing but shadows. A second later and my hand solidifies again. "See what I mean?"

I don't reply but lean my head on his shoulder, processing everything that's happened today. "Today was a good day."

"Yeah, I agree," Will turns and I remove my head from his shoulder. He gets up and smooths out his clothes. "I'm gonna go. Campfire is soon and I should be there."

I get up too, still shirtless from the mud healing. "Okay, see you later." I stop and think of a stupid nickname for him, but can't. Will sees me hesitate for a moment, and pulls me close. His hands tickle my back and I try not to squirm in his hug.

We kiss for a few moments, Will tracing his hands across my back, up and down my spine. Will pulls away and walks toward the door. "See you tomorrow, Angel Boy."

"Come on, we have some major healing to do," Will's voice pulls me from a deep sleep. I groan and drag myself out of bed. The only clean t-shirt in the room is a stupid orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt that I hate wearing.

It dangles from my shoulders, at least two sizes too big on me. Will tries to suppress a laugh, but I can tell I look silly. "Can you please get me my old clothes when you can? I really don't want to wear this any longer than I have to."

"I'll do it when I can, but there're some people that want to see you. While I was at the campfire, some people wanted to see you, so they should be coming any minute," Will washes his hands and sits next to me. "But after that, we're going to do some intense healing."

There's a soft tapping on the door and Will walks out to see who it is. Annabeth pushes past him and shuts the door before he can stop her.


	6. Chapter 6

**I want to introduce more character just to develop the plot. Enjoy.**

Chapter 6:

"Hey Nico," she says before sitting down.

"Hey, did you hear I have to stay confined here for three days?" I ask her before she can say anything else. She and I have had a weird relationship, and I don't want this conversation to start off awkward.

"Yes I did, but I think it's for the best. No one wants you to disappear, even though you don't think we care," Annabeth begins with. I already know where this conversation is going, and I dread it. "Nico, you have to take care of yourself. We _care_, whether you like it or not."

"Can we please not worry about that? Will's taking perfect care of me," I retort, wanting to end this part of the conversation.

Annabeth gives me a knowing smile. "Ah, yes, Will. I bet he will take good care of you," she keeps smiling.

I know I should be annoyed at her assumption, but it's true and I can't help but smile just thinking about it. "I knew it!" She says when she sees me smiling. "So you _do_ like him?"

I take a moment to think whether I can trust her. She is a daughter of Athena, after all, but I'm not the best with talking about my emotions. "Well, more than like him. I think we're dating."

I trail off, not even sure if I think we're dating. Annabeth squeals like a little girl on Christmas. "Wait, what do you mean, _you think_ you're dating?" She pauses in her squealing. I don't know why, but I've always felt comfortable around Annabeth, since I stopped being jealous of her. I feel like she won't judge me, no matter what I say.

"We kissed, but-,"

"Wait, you _kissed? _Already?" Annabeth looks at me in shock. "Percy didn't kiss me until, like, 2 years into our relationship."

"Yeah," I look away from her and blush. "It was pretty awkward at first." I pause, not wanting to explain further, but she urges me on. I painstakingly explain all the details, to Annabeth's joy. While I explain what happened yesterday, she gasps, giggles and doesn't stop smiling. I explain when I awkwardly pulled away from his kiss, then our extended kiss; everything up until now.

"Well you had a busy day yesterday," she concludes. I reluctantly nod and ask her how it's going out in the camp. "It's all fine. Lots of burials and emotions." She pauses to look back toward to door, as if she's checking to see if anyone's listening. She lowers her voice. "I'm having some suspicions about Leo."

Before she says anything else, my mind races. Should I tell her my suspicions, too? "I know everyone thinks he's gone, but I know, deep down, he's smarter than that and used the physician's cure. Somehow."

This is the moment of truth, if I tell her about Leo or not. "You have to promise not to tell anyone about what I'm going to tell you, okay?" I pause and she nods. "Well, when Leo blasted Gaia out of the sky, I felt him die, he was obliterated." I pause again, thinking if I should go on. "But, a few hours later, while I was hunting down the last of the monsters, I felt him come back. It was unconventional, but his spirit left the Underworld and came back."

There's a long pause before any of us speak. I desperately hope that I'm right, and Leo will come back, but I also don't want to get my hopes up. Maybe he wanted a fresh start, away from the demigod life. "I knew it. I _knew _it," Annabeth smiles and gets up. "Thanks for that. I hope you feel better, and listen to Will. No one wants you to turn into a ghost."

She smiles and leaves. I huff and lean back onto my bed. But before I get too comfortable, Jason barges in and stumbles on a chair. He smiles sheepishly and sits down across from me.

"Sorry to bother you, I know Annabeth was just in here, but I wanted to say hi," he starts and cracks his knuckles. "How are you doing with the whole _fading_ thing? You in decent shape?"

I let out a small laugh and reply, "It's fine, I think. I feel fine, personally. But how's it going outside, everything okay?" Annabeth didn't really inform me on what's going on, and I hope Jason will give me a little more info.

"It's all good, but I came here 'cuz I heard you, um, told Percy," he begins awkwardly. I roll my eyes, knowing it'll be another conversation like Annabeth's. _Since when did anyone care about me? _I wonder. "I'm just saying that it took a lot of courage and I'm proud of you."

Jason's always been so annoyingly persistent at trying to be nice to me, it gets on my nerves. "Oh wonderful. Jason is proud of me, my life if complete," my reply drips with sarcasm.

He smiles and shakes his head. "I'm just telling you the truth." He suddenly leans in closer toward me and whispers, "Piper and I would love to find you a match. I think Piper wants to introduce you to some of her brothers." He gives me the stupidest wink.

I scrunch up my face in disgust, just imagining what that would be like. "Um, no thanks. I, um, sorta have a boyfriend." I don't know why it comes out of my mouth so easily, but it feels good to say.

Jason looks at me for a second, processing what I just said. "Wait, what? _Already?" _He then proceeds to fire a million questions at me. "Who is it? Why didn't you tell me? Is he nice?"

I roll my eyes and stare at him. I really don't feel like talking about yesterday again. Talking to Annabeth really got me tired. "It's Will, he's the lucky man. I just explained it to Annabeth, so go ask her. Will told me to rest today, so "

Jason really doesn't look like he wants to go, but gets up anyway. "Okay, well I'll go talk to her. Rest up, we want you to feel better. Piper says hi." He stands toward the door and adds, "If he does anything bad to you, tell him I'll do something a thousand times worse." He smiles and leaves, so I finally get to relax.

I curl back into bed smiling and imagining Jason, my older brother figure, going up to Will and threatening Will to be nice to me.


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks for the support and hope you all keep reading. Enjoy.**

Chapter 7:

Will wakes me up the next day for another healing session. Yesterday was devoted solely to healing and he promised that if we made good progress today he might let me leave this damned room.

In my free time, which I have a lot of, I dwell on things I haven't had to before. I think about my relationship with Will, feelings for Percy, and Annabeth's conversation yesterday. Leo has been worrying me for a while because if he's still alive, which he is, and why hasn't he come back? That takes up a lot of my mental dialogue.

I get out of bed and peck Will on the lips. "Good morning, sunshine," I tell him. I woke up in a good mood and I feel better.

"Someone's in a good mood today," he reaches for my hand and takes it in his. "If we get a lot of fixing done today, maybe you won't have to stay here tonight."

I smile, but one part of me likes staying here with Will alone. I never thought about it, but when I leave the room, people will see me differently now that I'm dating Will. Most of me doesn't care what people say, I've never cared what people say about me, but another, smaller part is worried about how people will take it.

"How are you feeling? It looks like you're doing great." He points to the bed and I know the drill; I lie down on the bed and take off my shirt. I squirm when he pokes my ribs. "You're gaining a little weight, too."

I wouldn't say I feel good; I'm a long way from good, but I'm on the right track. I've gotten so used to the pain that I've been carrying, that I'm used to it. Now that it's lessening, I feel like a huge burden is being lifted. But all i say to him is, "Better. I'm doing a lot better. It's just going to take time."

He nods knowingly. Without a word, he closes his eyes and presses his hands onto my stomach. I still shrink away from his touch, but I'm slowly getting used to it.

The rest of the day is devoted to just that, Will's constant Ancient Greek humming and fixing my insides. We take a few breaks for ambrosia and nectar so Will doesn't tire out. While he's healing, I either watch his soft face as he hums, or close my eyes and try to sleep. Either way, the day goes by slower than a snail.

At the end of the day, before dinner, Will lets me leave, finally. I put my black t-shirt on and aviator jacket and embrace him. "Thank you so much," I feel a tear forming on my eye and bury my face in his shoulders.

He hugs me back and cups his hand on my face. He brings my face to look at him and he notices me crying. He delicately wipes it away and gives me a sad smile. "I'm here for you, don't cry." He tilts my head up a little and brings his lips to mine. He kisses me so gently, just brushing our lips together. I press up into his lips, wanting more. He chuckles and presses back. We stay kissing for a while after, but the light's out iron interrupts us and we part ways.

"Good night, Angel Boy," he calls to me from his door. I walk into my cabin and crash instantly into the coffin beds.

The next day I wake up to the morning conch. My mind goes instantly to the morning cabin checkup. I get up and survey the room. It's fine for now, so I leave for breakfast. On the way, I see Piper and Annabeth together, and I walk over to them.

"Hi Nico," Piper says happily. "You look great. I'm glad Will's taking good care of you." She winks while she's saying the last part. Annabeth laughs at that, I give her a strained smile.

"Yeah, he's great," I'm about to say more, but Chiron calls everyone's attention and everyone looks at him.

"May I have everyone's attention?" He bangs his hoof on a rock. "I just want to announce and say a huge thank-you to Nico, who has just recovered from several days in the infirmary. He helped Reyna transport the Athena Parthenos all the way from Europe."

Everyone turns to me and I go beet-red. They start cheering, even Annabeth and Piper pat me on the back. "Good job, you did an impossible task," Annabeth says through the cheering. I turn to her and give her an awkward smile.

The cheering dies down and I have a relatively normal breakfast. Lots of people come up to me and thank me, and it felt weird to have some time alone. It feels weird because whenever I'm alone, I'm usually brooding on my emotions. Now, I just feel sort of empty, not really thinking about anything.

Except Will.

I look at him throughout the breakfast, making eye contact every once in a while and smiling when we do. Some of his Apollo siblings notice our eye contact and whisper to each other. I'm slightly worried that they're saying bad things, but I shrug it off.

After breakfast, Will comes up to me while I'm walking to the Arena. "Hey, so can you come to the infirmary during campfire tonight, and probably every night, just so we can check up and do some healing. I talked to Chiron and he said that we can skip campfire, so don't worry."

I nod and we walk toward the Arena. "So what's your plan for today? You can't overexert yourself."

"I know, doctor. I just really need to swing my sword and slash some things," we pass the cabins and keep going toward the Arena.

Before we get too far, something catches my eye. Off in the distance, above the shoreline, there's a huge flaming bronze dragon, trailed by a whole flock of screaming birds.

It takes me a moment to put two and two together, but when I do, I gasp.

"Oh my gods, it's Leo."


	8. Chapter 8

**No more uploads on Wednesdays. Still expect stuff on Fridays and Sundays. Enjoy.**

Chapter 8:

A cry comes up from the many kids wandering from the Mess Hall. I see Annabeth gasp and start running toward Festus. Piper is close behind her.

That's when my mind starts taking action. I hear Will telling me to not help, that I'm too weak, but I don't care. I need to help Leo and see if he's okay.

I catch up with Annabeth and ask her what to do. "You check to see if Leo's okay," she tells me through her labored breaths. I nod and peel off from her, seeing Leo's flames shooting from near the back of Festus. Three huge, and I mean huge falcons are swarming around him. They look like some flying dinosaur, their claws are as long as my forearm. Their wingspan is at least twice my height, and that's huge, even if I'm short.

One bird gets charred by Leo's flames and I close in on the other two. In the back of my mind, I hear Will reminding me not to do any Underworld-y stuff, but I don't plan on using any.

"Leo, are you okay?" I yell above the shrieking of the birds. I dodge a pair of talons and swipe back at it, sending it cawing back. I spare a second to see how he's doing and he's crouched over a girl. "Who is that?"

I almost get skewed by another pair of claws but I bring my black sword up and the claws make a screeching noise against my blade. It takes all my effort to keep the claws from raking my torso, but I push back and swipe at its wings.

"Doesn't matter! Just get those damn birds away!" I hear him yell, still facing the girl. His voice is pained, but I don't have much time to dwell on it. He's completely vulnerable, so I stand between him and the birds.

I keep my eyes on both birds and see one preparing to dive. I slowly shuffle away from Leo, not wanting him to get in the way, and I wait. The bird screams then dives toward me, claws first.

At the last moment, I feel the adrenaline pump through me and I hop just out of the talons' way. It caws as it tumbles into the ground and I close in. It starts to flap its wings together, but before it can get airborne, I swing at its head.

It was a clumsy blow; I'm not the best swordsman, but it did the trick. I feel the bird's essence being sucked into my sword and send it back to Tartarus.

I turn back to Leo and gasp for the second time today. The second bird is streaking toward Leo, who's still crouched next to the girl, and I know I'm too far to do anything.

I try to cry out to get his attention, but my voice only comes out as a muffled cry. I watch the bird get closer and closer to Leo, and I brace myself.

I see a couple glints of light coming from to my left and they zip by to intercept the bird. Before the bird can get within ten feet of Leo, the bronze glints connect with their target.

The bird poofs into yellow dust and it slowly settles around Leo, but he still doesn't look up. I turn to see whose arrows saved Leo. but I think I already know the savior. I smile and turn to Will, but before I can take a step toward him, I hear Leo sobbing.

I spin back to Leo and go full-speed toward him. I don't know what's wrong, but if Leo's crying, I know it's bad. While I'm running toward him, Annabeth finishes off the last bird with her drakon sword and turns to see how Leo's doing. When she sees he's still crouched near the wrangled body of Festus, she sprints with me toward Leo.

Leo's hands are caked in fresh blood, and more seems to seep from nowhere. He lets out another sob and that's when I notice the bloody body cradled in his arms.


	9. Chapter 9

**I could have cut the chapter short, but I hate writing short chapters. Do you like the chapters longer, like this length? Let me know. **

**Enjoy.**

Chapter 9:

Annabeth's panting is cut short when she sees Leo. "Oh gods," she gasps and kneels down. She immediately takes action and says, "Give her some of this." With shaking hands, she pulls out a jar of nectar and hands it to Leo.

He murmurs a _thanks _and barely gets the cork off. He take a bloody hand and gently pours the nectar into the girl's mouth. Blood is dried all along one side of her face, but she looks oddly familiar. I take a closer look at her and see her blood is speckled with something shiny, like flakes of gold.

I think of Will and his healing skills but before I can turn to look for him, he meets us under the wreckage of Festus. He has a medical bag in one hand and his bow in the other. He tosses the bow away and gets Leo's attention.

"You have to move her out of this mess." When Leo shows some sign of comprehension, Will keeps talking. "Can you carry her out of here?"

As an answer, Leo stands up and sniffles. He carries the girl up out of the smoldering body of Festus and lays her on the grass a few meters away. Annabeth and I solemnly follow her and I notice death radiating from her.

Yet there was something particular about her battle between death. I feel the pull of immortality on her, like the two are fighting for control. I keep quiet, not sure what to conclude from this.

Chiron's hoofs bring me back into reality and I see him kneeling around the girl with Will. Leo sits apart from them, his head buried in his hands. We're encompassed by the whole camp, some of them armed and some with downcast faces.

I hear a few sniffles from the crowd and notice some Hephaestus campers are trying not to cry. The Seven are huddled around Leo, trying to give whatever comfort they can. I can tell they're elated at knowing he's alive, but it's dulled by Leo's sadness.

Will starts singing in Ancient Greek and it cuts through the still air. I scoot toward the Seven and pat Leo on the back. "Nice dramatic entrance," I joke, hoping he might crack a smile.

He lets out a pained chuckle and looks at me. "Yeah, I guess." I take a closer look at Leo, sending something is off. I stand back, almost revolted. Part of him still radiates death, part of him is sill _dead_. I don't bring it up since there's more pressing matters to attend to, but I know I should tell him.

Annabeth wraps her arm around me in a comforting hug and I concentrate on the girl's aura.

I do my best to ward off any Death that wants to grab her, but her aura still puzzles me. She has the distinct power of an immortal, but it seems to be fading. Next to Chiron's immortal aura and Will's demigod aura, she come across as similar to Will.

I'm so concentrated on her aura that Death gets a grip on her soul and I can't shake it away. Will's hymns get more strained and Chiron bandages faster, but it's no use. I feel death taking its toll on her body.

I gasp audibly and everyone looks at me. My grim face must tell them what I feel, because Leo bursts into tears and his hair inadvertently sets on fire.

Her death was similar to when I experienced Pan's death; it was her immortality dying.

Yet it was different than Pan's death. With her death came the birth of something else.

The birth of a mortal.

The girl's gasps startle the whole camp. She bolts to her feet, looking around crazily. Some Ares campers lower their swords and scowl, but other campers wave their weapons away.

Will is so shocked, he falls over and Chiron canters back a little. Leo breaks the spell and rushes toward her and embraces her. She takes a moment to register who it is, but when she does, a smile spreads across her face.

I think everyone blushes a little at the act of intimacy, but Leo cuts the hug short. He sniffles and looks at everyone. "Calypso, we made it. It's Camp Half-Blood." She turns to the crowd around her and gives us a sheepish smile.

When he introduces the girl to us, I instantly recognize her. _How could I forget… _

The whole camps returns her smile and the Seven, including me, go up to Leo and embrace him. That's when some of the Hephaestus campers realize Leo's back.

"Is that Leo?" someone says.

"Wasn't he the one that blew up Gaia?"

"How did he survive?"

Chiron and Will scoot back away from the big group hug, and I find myself the closest to Leo, in the center of the big hug.

"You made it, bud," Jason's voice says.

"It's so good to see you!" Hazel puts in.

A dozen more congratulations and puzzled questions come barging from everyone while I'm being pulped between Piper and Percy.

_Percy._

My eyes go wide and I squirm, trying to get away from all this touching. I'm over my feeling for Percy, but we haven't really ever talked about my feelings for him, so I sort of panic while I'm being pressed against him.

Thankfully, the hug is unraveled and I can uncomfortably scoot away from Percy. Jason turns to the camp with a huge grin and proclaims, "Leo is back! He's alive!"

The Hephaestus campers cheer louder than all the other campers combined. 20 or so burly kids pup their fists in the air and chant his name.

Annabeth catches my eye and she winks at me. Her faces shows she knew this was going to happen and I wink back. _Me too, _I think.

"So how did you cheat death?" Jason shakes his head. "If anyone would cheat death, I would think it would be you, bro."

"It wasn't too bad, really," Leo shrugs off the compliment, and wraps his arm around Calypso, who I, too, know quite fondly. I don't know if she will bring up the time when I spent a year on that damned island. I don't want to have to relive any of it.

"I was pretty charred when I died, and it hurt like Hades," he begins. The whole camp quits down to hear his death-defying story. "But it was pretty simple. I just programmed Festus to inject the Physician's Cure into me a few hours after I died.

"And it was all part of my plan. I figured that since you can only visit Ogygia once in your lifetime, I should make a new lifetime. And on the second visit, I whisked her back here," Leo finishes shortly. "It was a win-win situation." Many Aphrodite kids giggle and sigh at that touching love story.

Chiron cuts that short by stamping his hoof. "Everyone go back to your day. There is still lots to do," Chiron then turns to us. "You guys follow me."

Leo leads Calypso toward Chiron and the rest of us follow. "I was worried his plan wouldn't work," Hazel's voice whispers to Frank.

"Um, Chiron, I think Calypso should stay in the infirmary for a while. She isn't in the best shape. Neither is Leo, for that matter," Will tells Chiron hesitantly. I wonder if Will can tell Leo's death is still lingering around him.

"Of course. But this should only take a few minutes. Come with us if you want," Chiron says it more of a statement than a suggestion, so he reluctantly falls in line with me, near the back of the group.


	10. Chapter 10

**Thanks for all the support and I hope you enjoy.**

Chapter 10:

Most of the campers have dispersed away from the crash site, but the Hephaestus campers are still near Festus, trying to fix it from its crash.

Will softly touches my hand and I take it in mine. I don't know why we're being lead to the Big House, right after we found out Leo just came back to life, but I stay silent with Will.

"I just wanted to get you all back together and say thank you for everything," Chiron begins once we're al settled in the Conference Room. He looks at Mr. D, wanting him to add to that. "Right, Dionysus?"

"Yeah, yeah, you saved the world. Good for you," Mr. D says with feigned interest. "By the time I was your age, I traveled the world and became a god, so don't feel too good about yourselves."

Frank and Hazel, who have never met Mr. D before, look at him in disbelief. I think I hear Frank whisper to her, "Who _is _this guy?" Chiron glares at Mr. D and apologizes on his behalf. "Don't believe anything he says. He was a rowdy student, nothing like you guys. The gods and I are eternally thankful for saving us from extinction."

Everyone keeps talking, chatting about Leo and my eyes start to wander around the room, falling on all the couples in the room. Frank has his hands intertwined with Hazel's, Leo and Calypso are snuggled together, her arm wrapped around Leo's waist. Jason's arm rests gently on Piper's shoulders, with her head leaned on his.

Percy and Annabeth aren't touching, but I can feel them leaning toward each other, comfortable just being around one another. All this touching brings a smile to my face, which is so unlike me, and I bring my leg up against Will's, wanting to be part of this intimacy. He looks down at me, smiles and rests his hands warmly on my knee. His hand the only thing I can think about for a few moments.

"And this is Nico," Leo points to me, apparently introducing Calypso to everyone. "He's a son of Hades and-."

"I know him," Calypso's eyes twinkle with amusement. Everyone looks at her in confusion and she flashes them her dazzling smile. "Oh, has he never told you? He's kept me company on Ogygia for many months. He's been there more than once, strangely enough."

Everyone swings their heads at me, looking for an answer. Before I can explain, Leo demands, "And you never _told _me? I _died_ just trying to get back there!"

I glare at Calypso and her smug face. "When I Shadow Travel, it sometimes brings me there, and it won't let me Shadow Travel away," I look at everyone with a helpless look. Then I feel anger rising and fail to settle it. "It wasn't like I every _planned _to go to that hellhole." I pause to give her another glare. The memories there are too great and pained that I can't help but get angry and curse. "And it was her damn fault I couldn't leave for a long time. She couldn't fall in love with me."

Calypso gasps a little and retaliates. "Excuse me? I'm sorry I didn't fall in love with an annoying little brat." I rise out of my chair at her accusation and my powers ripple away from me; the plant in the middle of the table shrivels and dies. But that doesn't stop her from provoking me any more than she already has.

When her mouth opens for another round of insults, I already know what she's going to say, dreading the moment when it comes out of her smug smile.

"Well don't act like you fell in love with me, either. You don't even like girls!"

Before she finishes, the anger bubbled up inside me bursts and I jump over the table, reaching for her and her annoying throat. I don't really know what I plan on doing if I get to her throat, but I'm so angry and emotional, I just need to let it out.

Will holds me back and without him, I would've probably reached her windpipe. I don't take my eyes off her and her annoying, smug grin. As much as I want to hold them in, tears spill across my face out of anger.

Leo puts his arms protectively across Calypso and Hazel comes to pull me back as well. "Asshole!" I scream. Piper uses her Charmspeak to calm the situation, but my anger blocks it out.

Will diffuses the situation by whistling an inaudible sounds, making us all cringe. That halts my train of thought and Hazel takes that opportunity to pull me off the table. She puts her arm in front of me so I don't jump at Calypso again.

The room quiets down again and Chiron takes control of the situation. "Now what in the gods' name just happened there?" He looks at me first, as if I was the cause of this problem.

"Wait, when Calypso said you don't like girls, does that mean…" Leo's voice trails off, not wanting to address the problem face on.

Everyone's eyes are pinned to me, and my voice gets caught in my throat. Up until a few days ago, I never thought about telling everyone that I'm gay, it was always an internal battle, not for people to know about. Like my other problems, I fight them on my own.

All the energy drains from me and I slump back into my chair, trying to cover up the fact I'm silently crying. I look at Will, pain and sadness all across my face. I don't even want to imagine Calypso's satisfied look right now.

Will takes my hand under the table and brings it up for everyone to see. My eyes widen and I try to pull away, but he holds me firm. "Yes, Nico is gay, and so am I. We're actually dating, so if any of you have a problem, just say it." Will sits tall, looking to everyone in the room.

I, on the other hand, shrink smaller, but squeeze his hand in thanks. Annabeth smiles genuinely, and gives me a thumbs-up. Everyone else looks at the two of us, shocked into silence. Percy looks like something finally dawned on him.

Mr. D's snap interrupts the icy silence and the plant springs back to life. Frank, who wasn't paying attention, reels back. "Oh come on guys, loosen up. Back in my day, _everyone _was gay. I even had a boyfriend for a time," Mr. D says casually. He looks at his nails absently.

That loosens the situation and Jason lets out a nervous chuckle. "Well that was very," he pauses to look for the right word. "Uncomfortable. To say the least."

Everyone agrees, but I don't care, I still glare at Calypso. "Well, I think we all have a lot of things to do. Leo, Calypso, go with Will to the infirmary so he can check up on you," Leo nods and leads Calypso out of the Conference Room. I groan internally, wanting to have some alone time with Will, but I have to put up with Calypso.

We all start dispersing, but I stay close to Will, holding his hand tightly. I feel that if I let go, I'll just unravel and burst into tears. Even though I'm physically doing better, my mental state is more fragile than before. I'm assuming now that I have time to face my emotions, its sort of deteriorating me.

"What was that all about?" Will asks once we're relatively alone. Leo's taking Calypso for a tour of the camp, so we have a few minutes alone. "Not the part about coming out. I'm totally fine with that part."

He gives me a silly grin and squeezes my hand. "Well," I begin, I don't want to talk about it, but his puppy eyes push me on.


	11. Chapter 11

**Not the most exciting chapter, but important. Thanks for all the amazing feedback. Enjoy. **

**I realized there was a glitch. I think it's fixed. Thanks for telling me.**

Chapter 11:

I huff and start. "The first time I went to Ogygia, she noticed I didn't like girls, and she coaxed me into admitting I was gay. Before that, I just pushed away my feelings, not facing them. That's why I loved and hated Percy for the longest time. He brought back those feelings that I tried so hard to suppress," Will gives me a questioning look, and it takes me a moment to realize he never knew I liked Percy. I smile sadly, "Yes, he was my crush. Get over it."

Will opens his mouth to tease me, but I cut him off. "But when I was in Ogygia, there was time to wonder about my thoughts. It didn't help that she was pestering me and not being the most supportive. When she found out that I liked Percy, she bragged that he fell in love with her, and would never fall in love with me." I close my eyes and concentrate on not crying. Just thinking about the torment I went through on the island sends a shudder down my spine.

Will notices my pain and hugs me in the middle of the camp. His warm embrace steadies me and I manage to go on. "So when I came to terms with that, which took days of torture, I didn't feel much better. Flashbacks of Italy kept popping into my mind; hundreds of people slaughtered, just because they were gay, like me."

I know that talking about those flashbacks is a dangerous topic. Just thinking about my sister, Bianca, sometimes brings them flooding back, hundreds of people killed in front of my eyes.

"Woah, wait. What are you talking about?" Will looks confused yet again.

I try to focus on his cute blonde curls, pushing away the memories, and they slowly fade away. Once they're gone, I keep going. "When you started dating me, you got everything. All my problems and luggage." I stop because I'm uncomfortable talking about myself.

I expect Will to urge me on, to finish what I started, but he just leads me to a secluded bench where we can have some quiet. He holds my hands in his and stays silent, letting me take my time. "This is going to get weird. Really weird, but bear with me.

"So I was born is Fascist Italy in the '30s and stayed there until the beginning of World War II with my mom and sister. But before we left, I saw so many horrible things. Jews and gays were paraded around our town, shown as criminals, then butchered for us all to see. By that time, I subconsciously knew I was like them, I was gay. I couldn't sleep, thinking I was a criminal, and I even thought to turn myself in. I didn't know that being gay was fine, they brainwashed me into thinking it was a sin, the worst of sins." I choke up, remembering the sleepless nights and all the crying. "I just imagined myself as one of the people being killed."

From there, I explain to him everything else that happened, Zeus killing my mother, Bianca and I going to the Lotus Hotel, Bianca's death, up until now. Talking about Bianca was probably the hardest. She was the only person I cared for and connected to, and losing her was probably just as hard as admitting to myself that I was gay.

"Holy Hera, dude," Will finally says, once I'm done. The sun has set a good amount, and I watch the sky turning from its usual blue to a deep pink. "I can't believe you're still here. You have no idea how strong you are."

He lifts my head with one hand and looks me in the eyes. "Everything is going to be better now, I promise. I'm here for you."

We stay on the bench, eye to eye for a few moments. My heart hammers at his words, hoping, clinging to them. The sunset paints his hair a beautiful pinky-red, and I brush a lock aside.

I lean up toward him, realizing yet again how short I am compared to him. I bring our lips together and wrap my arms around his back, pressing up against his chest. Talking about my past has drained my energy and I just fall into his embrace.

He kisses me back gently, comforting me. I'm still trying to get used to how nice it is to embrace someone. Ever since Bianca died, I've had no one to cuddle or hug, and I miss it. Will's breath tickles me when he breaths, and I pull away, smiling.

"I love you," he whispers so softly, I almost miss it. I smile even wider and lean my head into the crook of his neck, pushing away his hair.

"I love you too," I reply, because I do. It's not a passionate love where I want to marry him and have his kids, but a love that we can comfort each other when we need it.

"Awwwwwwww," I hear a familiar voice come from behind the Zeus cabin. I straighten out and pull away from Will's neck. Both Will and I look for the source of the voice. I have a feeling it was directed at our cuddling.

I finally find Piper, Annabeth and Hazel's heads peeked out, spying on us with huge smiles on their faces.


	12. Chapter 12

**Sorry for the later upload, I'll still have a new chapter on Sunday. I hope you enjoy.**

Chapter 12:

Will laughs when he sees them and we both get up, hand in hand. When the girls notice us moving toward them, they squeal and scamper away.

I let out a playful breath and apologize. "Sorry about that, my friends are a little weird, if you haven't noticed," I lean against has shoulder and keep watching the sunset.

"Oh, you have no idea. My siblings are crazy," he pats me on the back and leads me to the hospital. Leo and Calypso are outside, waiting for us.

For the rest of the night before dinner, I tolerate Calypso just to stay near Will. Apparently, leaving Ogygia stripped her of her immortality and it needs some adjusting. Leo also needs Will's attention, dying and coming back to life really took a toll on his soul.

I get Leo alone for a second, while Will and Calypso are getting a drink of water and warn him. "Don't get on Calypso's bad side. She has thousands of years of anger that's pent up, and I doubt you'll want to be on the wrong side of it." Leo doesn't have a chance to respond because Calypso enters the room, but he looks worried for a few minutes.

I want to leave on multiple occasions, just sick of Calypso and her resentment toward me, but Will makes me stay. On the way out, he thanks me for putting up with her.

"I would never expect her to have a shred of bitterness in her." The two of us walk to the Dining Hall, Will exhausted after the healing session.

"Well, I bet you would turn a little crazy after being on an island for all eternity and teased with boys you fall in love with but leave whenever you do."

"No need to be sassy," he playfully shoves me and then brings me back by laying his arms across my shoulders.

We walk into the Dining Hall like that, intimately snuggled together. It doesn't even cross my mind about people's judgement until most of the Dining Hall goes silent when we walk in.

I was so concentrated in being next to Will, I didn't realize all the weird gazes cast our way. I stiffen and step a little away from Will once I notice all the attention on me, but Will doesn't loosen his grip.

Not everyone is quiet though; the Aphrodite cabin is flooded with whispers and gleeful giggles, all fueled by Piper. The Apollo cabin are also ablaze with whispers, some kids even whoop at Will.

Will beams at his siblings and blushes. We detach from each other and sit at our respective tables. Our tables are only a couple of rows apart, so I hear the excited whispers from his table.

"You did it!"

"I'm so proud of you."

"He's pretty cute." At that, I stop listening, afraid of what else I'll hear.

The rest of the night goes by uneventfully, besides the abundance of weird glances from people and a few smiles from my closer acquaintances.

The next night is Friday, which means it's Capture the Flag night. During the day, I practice with Will, him shooting arrows, and I beat up some dummies. We work on a combining our powers and think of some mischievous plans. I pray to all the gods hoping we're on the same team.

Luckily, when Chiron announces the teams, were are, along with Annabeth, and Hazel. Everyone else is on the other team, which gives us a huge disadvantage.

Annabeth gathers the four of us in the command tent the Athena cabin put up, and tells us the game plan. By the time she's done, the game has almost started, so we hurry to our position. Hazel goes to put up some simple Mist traps ahead of us.

Once the games begin, I get a rush of adrenaline. I haven't play Capture the Flag in years, and can't wait to get some action. With my Stygian Iron sword in hand, I walk silently with my teammates toward the enemy flag.

"So we're going to split up. I'm going to find Percy and try to take him down," she tells me with a sly smile. "So I hope you, Will, and Hazel can handle the other four on your own."

I nod and watch Will come back from scouting with his bow in hand. Hazel come comes back a moment later, and Annabeth tells us wha to do next.

When she's done, she peels off away from us and we follow Hazel, who apparently knows where she's going. "One of my traps went off, and I'm pretty sure Frank set it off." She smiles at the idea of seeing Frank stumble clumsily into one of her traps.

We advance steadily, knowing they're close by. I freeze when I hear a twig snap and scramble to get out of the person's line of sight, and Hazel follows suit. I quickly take cover next to Will and hear Leo curse.

A few shushes come from ahead of us and Hazel bites her lip, fighting off a laugh. We hear them creep forward, closer to our position, and I slow my breathing.

"They're close, I can feel it," Piper's voice warns her friends. I suppress a smile, anticipating the action to come.

Once they step close enough, Hazel gives me another nod, and pops out of her hiding place. A cry of alarm come from the group and Hazel starts working her Mist magic. I jump out of my hiding spot with Will, who sends arrow after arrow at the four of them.

Hazel's conjured a few hellhounds out of the Mist, which are keeping Piper and Frank busy. "Stop!" Piper's Charmspeak keeps some hellhounds at bay, and Frank's turned into a bear, swatting at any hellhound that dares creep too close.

I charge, the only one skilled enough at hand-to-hand contact. I raise a skeleton, but I want to conserve my energy, so I don't make any more.

Jason is busy deflecting Will's barrage of arrows, and doesn't have time to mount an attack. He laughs manically, taunting Will. "Is that all you have? This is like swatting flies out of the air."

I take a second to turn back at Will and see him smiling in return. This light mood is such a contrast to what battles usually are, but it's so fitting. It's a good challenge to actually fight against one another, a test of power.

I snap back to reality ands know Will's going to run out of arrows soon, so I make my way to Leo who's busy tinkering with some things in his belt. When he notices me and my skeleton, he throws his contraption and I instinctively dodge it.

The skeleton behind me isn't so lucky. The mechanism burst and the skeleton crumples and melts back to the Underworld. Leo sends wave after wave of screwdriver at me but I dodge them, feeling the adrenaline pulse through my veins.

I give Leo a sly smile, testing him. "Let's dance," he replies, pulling out two small sledgehammers and flipping them in his hands.

I take his invitation and slash low and hard. My honed blade glides effortlessly though the air and the blade feels like an extension of my arm. Leo parries with on hammer and and attacks with the other.

I hop out of reach, still smiling. I jab at him, using my advantage of a longer weapon. From the corner of my eye, I see Jason making good progress toward Will and I know I need to end this quickly.

So I make a plan. A stupid, reckless plan, but a plan all the same.


	13. Chapter 13

**I liked writing this chapter, I'm gonna try to add more action. Thanks for all the support. Enjoy. **

Chapter 13:

I advance again, jabbing at Leo's torso. His hammers parry them easily, just as I expect. Once I get close enough for Leo to lunge with his hammers, I let him attack. He swings with his right arm, aiming for my stomach, but I make no effort to block it with my sword. I just keep my eyes on his exposed leg, waiting for the right moment.

The moment before his hammer makes contact with my ribs, I summon a wall of darkness to block the blow. Leo's hammer bounces off the shield of darkness and while he's off balance, I take that moment to finish him.

I swing the flat of my blade at his legs and before it connects, I yell, "Sorry!" Leo crumples to the ground and I put my sword to his throat. That signifies he's captured and can't battle anymore.

I quickly turn to Jason and see he's advancing on Will. I sprint to aid Will, just as he reaches for his last arrow. As I hurry to get to Will, he nods to me, giving me a signal.

While we were practicing earlier today, I tried Shadow Traveling Will's arrows as they were in flight, to catch the target by surprise. I would move the arrow behind the dummy so the arrow would fly into it from its back. It didn't work all of the time, so I'm worried I won't be able to do it this time.

I nod back to Will and he lets his last arrow loose. I keep running, concentrating on the arrow. Jason flicks his hand to blow it out of the way, but before the gust of wind can move it off course, I Shadow Travel the arrow behind him, just as planned.

The arrow connects with Jason's back a moment later and he stumbles, but doesn't fall down. He then notices me and smiles dangerously. "That was a nasty trick, dude," he diverts his attention to me and advances slowly.

I know he's way more skilled than me, so I stay on the defensive. He drives to my exposed left side, and I dance back quickly. One of his cuts get so close to me that it cuts through my belt and part of my jeans.

Hazel sees my retreat and turns her attention to me. I scramble backwards, trying to get as far away from Jason as I can. A moment later, a brick starts to condense between us, a work of Hazel's Mist magic.

Jason barely has time to slow down and stops a few inches from the ever-solidifying wall. Soon it's going to lock him inside, with Frank, Leo, and Piper, but before solidifies, he prepares to make one last attack.

I stand a few feet away from the hardening wall, not thinking Im in any danger. But when Jason takes a stance, I scramble backwards and brace myself. Jason lets loose a huge blast of wind _through_ the thickening wall, and it sends me flying. My sword clatters in the opposite direction, pulled from my hand.

I'm lifted off my feet and crash into Will, which also sends him through the air. His bow is wrenched from his grip and we soar tens of yards from Hazel's wall. We hit the ground at a sickening speed and tumble as one, a jumble of limbs bouncing off the ground.

We finally slow down, covered in a layer of dirt and twigs. I'm sprawled on top of him, inches from his face. His arms are wrapped around me, cushioning my landing.

He groans and opens his eyes. We lock eyes and I rest my head on his shoulders, hearing his heart hammer. "You comfortable?" He voice is strained. "I'm glad I can be your human cushion"

I roll my eyes and slide off of him. "Shut up," I lay next to him, too tired to get up. He laces hims fingers through mine as I keep talking. "You were the one that grabbed onto me."

As we lie had in hand, looking at the treetops, my heart finally calms down. "You okay?" He props himself up onto his elbow and looks at me, eyebrows furrowed.

I lift my shaky hand and wipe away a streak of dirt on his cheek. "Yeah, but what do we do now?"

I get up, but my legs snag on something, and I tumble back to the ground. That's when I realize my pants bunched up at my ankles, my belt shredded. I look at Will, wide-eyed and hastily pull up my pants.

Will tries to suppress a laugh, but can't. "Who knew the son of Hades would have flower print boxers?" He rolls on the ground, not able to stop laughing.

I blush redder than a beet and try to act angry. "I got these while bringing back the Athena Parthenos. It was the only thing there."

Will finally calms down and stands up with me. I have to hold up my jeans with one and, which gives me a weird limp. Without saying a word, he brings out lips together, mixing our saliva and dirt.

During our kiss, I unknowingly let go of my pants and bring Will into a hug. When we dismantle ourselves from one another, I realize again that my pants are to my ankles.

This time, I don't feel as uncomfortable, but I still blush and pull them up quickly. "You're so cute when you're embarrassed," Will teases me with his curly hair bobbing as he walks.

"Shut up, Solace," I nudge him playfully. We walk back to where we flew from and look for our weapons. I keep an ear open for any signs of people, or indication that the game's still going on.

Will finds his bow first, with his empty quiver. A few yards ahead, my sword, or the remains of my sword, is bunched up in the roots of a tree. I run towards it, feeling darkness radiate from that spot.

The air gets so frigid, I slow down and feel goosebumps grow all along by skin. Shards of my black sword are encased in darkness, spewing it out like a fountain. Will stays away, but I step closer. The darkness snakes to my feet and dissipates, until all the darkness is gone and only pieces of my sword are left.

I don't even bother to pick up the remnants of my sword. The metal has gone from its usual black to the bland grey of normal iron.

I kick the hilt and walk back to Will. Before he can ask what happened, I explain. "My sword broke. Literally. It does that every once in a while. The darkness inside it escapes and turns the blade back into iron, instead of Stygian Iron."

Will slings his arm around my shoulders and brings me close. "Well, don't worry about it. We'll go to the Underworld and get you a new one."

"I don't think so, you can't just waltz into the Underworld like you own the place," I assume he's joking.

"Well, I have you to protect me from all the evil spirits. I've always wanted to go," he replies casually. He drops his arm from my shoulder when we hear a commotion up ahead. He lets me go ahead of him so I can scout, which I don't understand. It's not like he can back me up with his bow and no arrows.

The commotion gets louder and I think I can make out some people's voices. Before I can take another step, my pants are ripped from my hand and fall to my ankles again. I trip on them and tumble to the ground, throwing up a cloud of dust.

Behind me, Will bursts out laughing and helps me up. He grabs my pants for me and pulls them up. His hand runs up my leg, sending a shiver across my body. I don't know if meant it, but before I can ask, the whole commotion quiets down.

I grab my pants to keep them up and look at all the quiet people staring at us. The whole camp has set up an infirmary to take care of the injured, and everyone's helping out. Except now, they're looking at Will and me. Jason and Percy look at us wide-eyed, Piper's trying to suppress a laugh, and Annabeth gives me a thumbs-up.

At first, I don't understand their reactions, but then I realize what our entrance looked like. I want to say something to show we weren't fooling around, but can't.

"Looks like someone got some action," Annabeth winks at me, and the whole camp erupts in laughter.


	14. Chapter 14

**I liked writing this chapter. Enjoy.**

**Damn, the glitch happened again. I don't know what's wrong. I hope it's better now.**

Chapter 14:

Will bites his lip, suppressing a laugh, and I jab him with my elbow. "Why are you laughing?" I give him one of my death stares and he reluctantly stops.

"Come on, it's funny," he snuggles my arm. "Nothing happened, but they all imagined things. Lighten up."

The camp has settled somewhat, and gone back to what they were doing. I get some funny looks and winks, as we walk toward the Seven.

"So did we win?" Will asks Annabeth, who's telling Percy a joke in his ear. Hazel looks at us and shakes her her head.

"When you guys abandoned me, I was pretty defenseless, so once they broke out of my Mist trap, they just marched to the flag and took it." Will makes an _oops _face and shrugs. "What _were_ you two doing when you left?"

Hazel smiles, as if she already knows, and the Seven turn to hear the answer. Will doesn't answer, so I take it upon myself to fill them in. "Well, while I was fighting Jason, he cut through my belt and part of my pants." I raise my tattered belt and show them the cut belt. Realization dawned on all of them and they all smile. "And Will was just messing with me and pants-ed me when we came into view."

We all share a laugh, with Will blushing and the Seven then disperse to help out the wounded. Will goes to look over the infirmary, which I don't want to do, so I stay with Hazel, catching up with her.

"How was the rest of the journey, without me? Tell me everything," I prompt her and genuinely want to know. After being with the whole crew of the Argo II, I have gotten somewhat attached to everyone, which is so unlike me.

So she starts retelling what happened from the moment I left with Reyna, up until the moment they were catapulted to camp.

By the time she's done recounting everything, it's time to sleep, so we part ways and I call it a night.

The next morning, I wake up to a soft tapping on my cabin's door. It's pushed open and Will's voice whispers through the slit he made. "Nico, wake up."

I groan and get up. "What the Hades are you doing here? It isn't even five in the morning," I check the clock on the wall and glare at him. He's all prepared for the day, in the stupid Camp Half-Blood and a bow in his hand.

"We're going to get you your sword. Now come on, we don't have a lot of time," Will walks in and rips the covers off my bed.

I panic, remembering I only sleep in underwear, and try to cover myself up. "Hey!" I yelp and grab the sheets to cover myself.

"You're still thin," he muses and pokes my exposed ribs. "Are you ever going to be comfortable around me? I'm your boyfriend, not a stranger."

I get up with a huff and drop my sheets. Quickly, I grab my clothes and put them on. I instinctively reach for my sword, but it takes me a moment to remember I don't have one anymore.

"Take this," Will pulls a sword from behind him and gives it to me. It's a typical Celestial Bronze sword, but nothing like mine.

"Why do I need this? Can't we just Shadow-."

"I don't think so, Angel Boy," Will chides. "You're still on probation. No major _Underworld-ly _stuff for a while."

I move to protest, but he hugs me and our lips meet. My anger dissipates as our lips grind together. Will bites my lower lip as we kiss, and I blush a dark shade of red, and keep kissing him.

We twist out of our intimate embrace, but stay leaning on his shoulders. "I love you," I whisper and listen to Will's heartbeat. "But you can be s stubborn sometimes."

"Love you too," he brings my head to his and pecks me on the mouth. "I assume you can get Jules-Albert to drive us?"

"Why can't I just Shadow Travel us there? It will take us no time to get there if I do," I complain as we walk into the morning air.

"Because I said so. No _Underworld-ly_ stuff for a while," Will leads me to Thalia's tree, where Argus is waiting for us.

"Did you ask Chiron if we could go?" I ask, trying to keep up with his long stride.

"Yeah, don't worry. As long as we're back by nighttime, we should be good," he reassures me and thanks Argus.

We get into the black car with Jules-Albert in the front. "Hello Jules. How you doing?" I ask him in Italian since he doesn't understand English very well, and Italian is closer to French.

He responds in the clicking skeleton language and I nod. "Can you take us to the Underworld entrance in Central Park, please?"

He nods back as a response and I lean back next to Will. "So polite," he notices. I roll my eyes and lean on his shoulder.

"Well I mean his whole existence is to drive me around, so I feel kinda obliged to be nice," I respond defensively. "He's really nice."

Will rests his hand on my leg and we start talking about mindless things. I talk about being on the Argo II, and he talks about preparing for battling the Romans. I warn him of things to look out for in the Underworld like Cerberus, the skeleton guards and most of all, my dad. If I knew we were going to the Underworld, I would have prayed to my father to not run into us. I haven't talked to him in ages, and it would be even more awkward if Will is with me.

Before I know it, I say goodbye to Jules-Albert and walk into Central Park, hand in hand with Will. His bow is packed into a golf bag, and I tuck my sword into my pants.

A few early-morning joggers pass by, and a few men in suits stroll by, but besides that, Central Park is deserted. "How'd you know there was an entrance in Central Park?"

He shrugs. "I just asked Chiron." I lead him off the normal path, over a fence, and onto the dewy grass. We pass a few trees and finally make it to a secluded corner of the park.

I turn around to see if we're pursued, and my heart skips a beat. "Uh, Will?" I stop and pull him around.

It takes him a moment to realize what's chasing us, but when he does, he gasps.

"Apollo's ass, we're screwed."

One of the guys in a suit has followed us off the trail and has started morphing in front of our eyes. The suit rips as his torso and legs grow, a spiky tail grows from his back side.

The man's face stays the same, and that's when I know what it is. "Gods damned manticore." I whisper and think about the first time I saw a manticore.

It was years ago, it was actually the first monster I saw, and my sister was there. Percy, Thalia, and Annabeth were there to save us, and I mostly remember being very confused.

The manticore's purrs rip me back from that memory and I analyze the situation. Will lets loose a couple of arrows, but they bounce harmlessly off the manticore's coat. It drops onto its four legs and poises the scorpion tail to shoot. "Watch out!" I shout and prepare to jump out of the way.

The manticore hisses and lets loose a few sharp projectiles. With my sword in hand, I roll forward and sneak closer to him.

Will shoots two projectiles out of the air, and a third whizzes by, scraping his leg. I hear him take a sharp breath and almost stop to help him. But I keep going, determined to take this manticore out.

The Celestial Bronze sword in my hand feels too heavy, but it's the best I have. I feign to his legs, wanting to get a clear shot of his mouth, the only vulnerable spot on his body, since his fur is pretty much impenetrable.

The manticore falls for the bait and rears on its hind legs. I jab at the exposed mouth, but I don't take into account my heavy blade and it misses, the sword harmlessly bounces off his face.

He lets out a guttural laugh and swipes at me. I block it with my uncomfortable blade and grunt at the impact. A red dot appears on the manticore, and I know it's from Will's bow. I know he needs a clear shot at the manticore's mouth, so I keep its attention.

I slash again at its muzzle, but it's easily blocked. I lose my balance and in that split second of unbalance, the manticore pounces.

He claws at me, but I scramble backwards, feeling the _whoosh _of his claws centimeters from my skin. His hind legs tense and I know he's going to pounce again.

"Move!" Will warns me, and I know what happened: he found an opening.

I throw my sword at the manticore, knowing well that it won't do anything, but it distracts him for a second. That second saves me because I run backwards, away from him.

Will's red dot lines up with the manticore's mouth just as he pounces on me and he lets his arrow loose. The quarrel connects with the manticore as they're both in flight, the arrow exploding on contact.

The shockwave and heat him me a moment later, searing my arms and tearing up my eyes. I stumble and fall to the ground, seeing all that's left of the manticore is a pile of yellow dust and some scorched grass.


	15. Chapter 15

**This chapter's a little long, but probably my favorite chapter. Enjoy.**

Chapter 15

"What were you doing, trying to fry me?" I grin and look at Will. He's on one knee, blood seeping from his scrape.

Without answering, he slumps down and drops his bow. My grin fades and I realize manticores are poisonous. "Will!" I shout and scramble toward him.

Before I get to him, I can hear his labored breathing. "Hey, sorry about that," he replies softly. "I'm fine, relax. Just go into my backpack and get the green liquid." Will sucks in his breath, and I know he's in pain. The wound, even though it's shallow, is turning a sickly purple. I can feel the death and disease radiating from it, which worries me.

The green liquid is warm to the touch and I fumble to open it. "Just pour it on the cut. Don't be stingy," he tells me through grit teeth. I nod in response, not trusting my voice.

I pour the the warm goop on the purpling wound, despite Will's obvious discomfort. "It's okay," I whisper and hold his hand. He holds it in an iron grip.

After pouring the goop, Will makes me bandage it, going step-by-step so I do it right. He drains a flask of nectar and hesitantly stands up. Will's leg shakes with he effort and he bites his lip in pain. I come to his aid and I let him put some weight on me.

"You good?" I ask quietly. Before he answers, I lean my face up and brush my lips against his. He leans in with eyes close, tired from fighting the poison.

"Yeah. I'm glad I brought my medical kit," he whispers back, just inches from my face. He leans back into the kiss and we stay there for a few moments.

Our kiss is interrupted by the grating of stone on stone. We both turn and see a rock roll to unveil a staircase.

I steer Will slowly down the stairs but we have to stop on multiple occasions for Will to catch his breath, and he leans on me almost all the time.

A handful of minutes and thousands of steps later, we reach the bottom of the stairs, with he River Styx right in front of us. "Woah," is all Will can say.

On the other side of the Styx is a massive black wall, with hundreds of skeleton guards. Each guard is equipped with different weapons; they range from machetes to bows to heavy guns. They patrol on top of and at the base of the wall like the Underworld is a maximum-security prison.

Which it is, of course.

I lead my awestruck boyfriends towards a bridge to cross the Styx. We get to the actual entrance of the Underworld, guarded by Cerberus, when Will finally says something. "This place is so cool. My dad is missing out," he says while looking around like a tourist. I give him a questioning look, I don't understand what he's trying to say, so Will explains. "My dad always boasts that he's seen everything, since, ya know, he's the sun and all, but he hasn't seen this before, and it's _amazing._"

I roll my eyes and walk up to Cerberus, bypassing a few hundred ghosts. When Cerberus notices me, his three tails start wagging in unison. The middle head bends down and I scratch under his chin. I have to dodge the water-ballon size globs of drool from his mouth, but I still pet him. I notice Will's gone very silent and smile to myself; I can tell he's slightly worried about the huge dog in front of him.

Sure enough, the head I'm petting takes a sniff of the air and Cerberus's eyes widen. He straightens his head and looks around for the unusual smell. Once he sees Will, he and his two other heads growl; a low, menacing growl.

Will eyes grow to the size of saucers and he looks at me for help. I smile inwardly and sooth Cerberus. "It's okay, he's my boyfriend. He's nice, don't hurt him."

I pat Cerberus's leg and he calms down. I grab Will by the arm and push through the lines of ghosts. "You're not always the tough guy in this relationship, sunshine," I jab him playfully as the ghosts part for me.

We pass the Fields of Punishment, the milk-curdling cries of pain wafting through the air. I make a beeline for Hades's Palace, not wanting to stay here any longer than I need to. I'm dreading the moment if and when Hades pops in to meet Will.

The palace comes into view, its bright torches sticking out of the dark surroundings. The palace is almost as guarded as the wall, with a handful of skeletons guarding the entrance to the palace.

I communicate in their clicking tongue, and after a minute of arguing about Will, they let me in. We finally enter the black palace and I lead Will to my room.

He protests, wanting to see all the rooms, but I pull him along anyway. "Everything's the same. Black floors, black furniture, skulls everywhere, and if you're lucky, there might be a splash of dark purple somewhere," I explain. "My room's the only thing with a different color, and the color's gray. That's how bleak this place is is."

"But what about in the winter, Persephone must brighten the place up," Will tries to reason with me as we walk to my room. We pass countless hallways, all marked with skulls ad bones. Our footsteps make too much noise for my liking, but I don't try to stop it.

"Well, yeah, Father would do anything for her, but while she's gone, he changes it back to black. Black, black, black, everything's black," I reply, acting annoyed, but I actually kind of like this place. It's comforting to be back after so long.

We finally make it to my bedroom, my pride and glory. I've coaxed my dad to get me whatever I want, and I have pretty much anything that anyone would think of. "Woah," Will stops in his tracks and I have to drag him into my room so I can close the door. "This place is _amazing_." He goes up to the flatscreen TV and marvels at it. He passes a foosball table and sits on one of the beanbags. A cooler in the corner of the room buzzes softly.

"Yeah, but there's nothing to do," I reply, already bored. Now I remember why I don't like this place.

"What are you talking about? You have, like, every shooter game in existence," he browses through my video games and I yawn.

Before I can answer, there's a knock at my door and it slowly opens. I already know who it is, and my heart sinks.

"Hello, son."

My dad comes into view, a human version of Hades from the Disney movie _Hercules._ He has a gray robe on, and a skull pendant holding it up. His long face is tipped with blue flames that reflect his mood. It always makes me laugh that this is how he chooses to look, like a human version of a cartoon.

Will instantly stands up at Hades's voice and turns, wide-eyed. My dad looks at Will with a cool smile. "Hi Will," he begins, and turns back to me. "I felt you were here, so I wanted to drop by."

I give him a cold glare, not responding, but he keeps smiling. "It's such a relief seeing you do so well, son. Why are you down here, did come to visit?"

I look at him for a while before answering. I know he know's my sword broken, but he's just playing with me. "Actually, no. But I do love the new decor you put in. The black really brings out your heart." I say it with a hint of humor, so I don't get zapped into darkness. "My sword broke, so I'm here to get a new one."

Hades tilts his head to Will with a look on his face. "I can never tell if he's joking or not," Father tell Will and cracks a smile. He turns back to me and says while inviting himself into the room, "Yeah, I know. I know your sword break. That's actually why I came here."

He snaps and Will recoils back, as if my dad's about to kill him, which is totally possible. A sword appears next to Father, and he grabs it. Before saying anything to me, he turns, yet again, to Will. "Don't be scared. I would never hurt a guest of the house," his flame hair turns violent and he has a wicked look in his eye.

"Um, what about the time you locked up Perc-," I go to protest, but Hades interrupts me.

"As I was saying," he looks back at me, still smiling. That fake smile seems to never go off his face. "Since you broke your sword, I thought it's a good time for an upgrade."

He pauses to grab the sword out of the air. I give him a confused look and he keeps explaining. "So I want to give you this. It's the first sword I used, made for the Titanomachy, the First Titan War. It's a thank-you for saving the world." He pauses a moment then adds, "And making me proud."

I glance at him suspiciously. "Don't worry, I got the cyclopses to fix it up just like your last sword." When I don't make a move to take it, he shoves it in my direction. "Can you just take it and be grateful? It took me a while to find it."

I gaze at Will, wondering if this is all part of a bigger evil plan. The blade _does_ look nice; I can feel the fear radiating from it. I reluctantly take the blade.

"Thanks Dad," I mumble and look at Hades. He has a sad smile on his face, but a genuine sad smile.

"No problem. I hope you like it. Thanks again for saving the gods' sorry butts." He walks backwards toward the door and starts to close it. "Don't have too much fun, you two."

He winks and his hair flames a deep red. It does that when he's joking, which isn't often. I groan, "Daaaad," but he closes the door and Shadow Travels away.

Will lets out some pent-up breath and slumps into a chair. "Well that was something I never expected."


	16. Chapter 16

**Sorry for the late upload. Hope you enjoy.**

Chapter 16:

"What in the gods just happened?" Will mutters half to himself. "That was so…" He looks around for the right word, as if it's written on one of the black walls. "Anticlimactic."

I smile knowingly. "Yeah. I never understood why my dad got such a bad rep. Like he's a decent guy for a god. I've heard some pretty weird things from Demeter's kids that no one ever talks about."

I go over to sit next to Will. "No one really knows much about the Underworld and my dad. Everyone thinks he's a grumpy guy, which he is, but he's more than that. He's capable of love, and empathy. He knows things other people don't." I pause to take a breath. "It's just so hard to explain." I know I'm delving into some deep things, but I feel comfortable in my room, with Will.

I look at him and he nods, wanting me to go on. I don't know whether he really wants to know my thoughts or he's just being nice. I hope it's the former. "Like he loved my mother, but when she died, he didn't even consider to bring her back. It was in his realm of power, no one would question him, but he knew the Fates had it right. When someone dies, they should stay dead." I shake my head spitefully. "It took me a while to realize that. I tried bringing Bianca back, but she knew. She knew it would be worse if she came back."

Something in me likes talking about my thoughts, it feels like I'm straightening them out. Will sits on a beanbag, listening. "But going back to my father, he really does have a bad reputation. But it's not his fault. It's just that no one really knows what goes on down here. I bet no one knows two of Cerberus's heads are female, so that makes him more girl than boy. I bet you didn't know that my father plants tulips, Persephone's favorite flower, all over the Underworld when she arrives in Autumn.

"He's a respectful guy, like most gods," I conclude my speech there, too worn out from telling so much. I look over at Will apologetically. "Sorry I went on a little rant."

He smiles and comes to sit next to me on the bed. He knits jobs hands in mine and squeezes them. "It's all good. Sometimes the best thing to do is rant. So, how's the sword?" He marvels at it and goes to touch it.

"I don't think so, sunshine," I jerk the sword away from him before he can touch it. "If you want your soul being sucked into the sword, then go ahead, but I don't think yo'll want that."

"Hades is right, you are one sassy boy," Will shakes his head and leans back on the bed. I follow suit and lean on his shoulders after putting down my new sword.

I thread my fingers through his hair and drape my other hand over his chest, feeling him inhale and exhale. We stay there for a few minutes, just comfortable next to each other. His blonde hair is so mesmerizingly soft, I keep playing with it.

A while after, he starts moving, but stop him before he can get up. He looks confused at first, but then he sees my mischievous smile. I clamber on top of him, pinning him down. I'm kneeling above him, my knees next to his hips, and I lean down to kiss him.

While I lean down to kiss him, I graze my hand under his shirt and feel his warm torso. He sucks in his breath at my hand teasing his chest, but I suppress him with a more passionate kiss.

I fall on top of him, both our hearts hammering. We lay cheek to cheek, happy in each other's embraces. I finally slide off of him and strengthen out my t-shirt. He gets up and fixes his tousled hair.

"We should go soon," Will checks his watch as I sheath my sword. I straighten out the bed sheets and prepare to leave.

We walk out of the palace, the skeletons shutting the doors behind us. I lead Will toward the entrance of the Underworld, and we get up to the mortal world without a problem. I whistle Jules-Albert and his car appears out of the shadows. A few people are startled, but the Mist does it's work to distort the mortals' minds.

We get in and Will comments about the time. "It feels like it should be way earlier," I look outside to see what he's talking about, and he's right. The sun is already halfway down its descent, and we were only down in the Underworld for a few hours.

"Yeah, the Underworld's time is messed up. Sometimes it's faster, sometimes it's slower," I shrug. We'll still make it back to Camp in time, so I'm not worried.

An hour and lots of snuggling later, we get back to camp. I thank Jules-Albert and he melts away in a puddle of shadows.

"Hello, Argus," I greet him as we walk by him. In response, Argus nods and blinks his hundred eyes.

"Let's go see Chiron so he know we're back," Will leads me by my hand until we get to the Big House. The sun's rays still illuminate part of the house, making it seem like it's shining.

Chiron sees us on the porch and nods. He gives us a thumbs-up when I unsheathe my new sword. "Wow, it's radiating fear. Even I can feel that."

"Yeah," I look down, embarrassed. "It was my dad's first sword, and he, um, gave it to me." I feel uncomfortable knowing I have such an ancient and powerful sword.

"Congratulations, Nico," Chiron pats me on the back, which is slightly uncomfortable. "You earned it. After saving the world, I wasn't be surprised Hades would get you something."

I beam at the compliment, which is so unlike me, but it feels nice to be complimented by Chiron. Will walks out, he's going to check on the infirmary, and I stay with Chiron for a bit to talk.

The morning conch wakes me up the next day and I walk out of my cabin to see Hazel waiting for me outside, already out of bed. "Hey," I greet her sleepily. "Whats up?"

Her eyebrows are knitted together, so I know she's worried. "I'm feeling a powerful piece of Stygian Iron somewhere. I can't pinpoint it, but it's close, _very_ close."

It takes me a second to realize what she's talking about, until I realize I got a new sword. "Oh, Hazel," I laugh, probably confusing her more. "Dad gave me a new sword. It's his first one, so you're probably feeling that." I snap and the sword solidifies from my shadow. I grab the sword from its sheath of darkness and show it to her.

"Wow," she says in awe. "It's powerful, that's for sure. You deserve it." She brings me into a hug and I snuggle back.

I spend the beginning of my day floating around. I hang out with Jason and Piper, fixing Jason's glasses whenever they're crooked. Piper tells me about her going back to her dad for the year, maybe bringing Jason with her.

I smile sadly. I notice how the couple are isolating themselves from the rest, but I shrug it off. Maybe they just want some alone time together, since they've been on the same ship for the past few months. I make a mental note to try and bring them together every so often.

I hang out with Leo for a little bit, not wanting to near Calypso for too long. I'm still pretty salty about how she was so rude to me when she arrived at camp. Being close to her brings back the memories of Ogygia, which I really don't want to relive.

Finally, I find Will at the archery range, practicing with his bow. I watch at the edge of the range, him firing arrow after arrow at the bulls-eye.

His motions are so fluid, I get mesmerized by it. He grabs an arrow from his quiver and pulls it back in the same motion. He stops to aim for a split second, and bam, the arrow's in the haystack.

Will finally notices me and calls me over. "Want to shoot some? I can teach you," he winks. He lets an arrow loose while looking at me and still gets the bulls-eye.

I roll my eyes and huff. "Showoff," I act uninterested, but I still pick up a bow.

"Oh no. Not that one, Angel Boy," he pats me on the back and snatches the bow from my hand. "If you were a foot taller and at least 20 pounds heavier, then you can use that bow. But you're puny and need a smaller bow." He reaches for one of the bows on a rack. He mutters to himself which one would fit the best.

"Ah ha, here it is," he hands me a small bow that's way smaller than Will's. He hands it to me and I look at it in disgust.

"It's so small. I bet it can't even shoot ten feet," I almost throw it down, but Will looks at me patiently.

"Can you trust my archery skills? I think I have slightly more experience than you with bows," Will's voice is lathered in sarcasm.


	17. Chapter 17

**This is it. This is all I've gotten up to. In 3 weeks, this is all I wrote. It's horrible, I know. I just lost my Solangelo feels and there really was no place to go with this story that I can think of. **

Chapter 17:

I roll my eyes and let him put me in the right stance. He grazes his hand across my legs and he comments on my posture. "Straight legs." "Wider stance." It's all I can do to not squirm at his gentle touch.

"Okay, looking good," he steps away from me and finally hands me the bow. He positions my arm until it's almost perfect and then gives me an arrow. "Now you have to draw, aim and fire as fast as you can."

I do exactly as he says and I almost impale a passing satyr. Will takes the bow from me quickly, before I can do anymore damage. The satyr waves his hand at me angrily, but Will shrugs it off. "Not the worst start."

Before he can instruct me further, Hazel and Frank walk by. When Hazel sees me trying out archery with Will, she drags Frank to say hi.

"I've been meaning to learn archery," Hazel begins with a grin. I look at her, confused, but let her keep talking. "And now that you have Will," she arcs her eyebrows suggestively. "We can both learn. Will will teach you, and Frank'll teach me."

She gives me a huge smile and I can't help but reciprocate. Frank starts finding a bow for Hazel while Will gives me more pointers on shooting.

**I am writing a Bianca and Nico AU though if you want to check it out. It won't let me post a link, but go to my profile. It's called "DiAngelo Duo".**

**Sorry again about ending this fanfiction. :( thanks for all the tremendous support. ily all**


	18. Chapter 18

**Well look who's alive... I'm back from the dead (haha Nico jokes) and I plan to upload weekly again. As long as I can find some fresh ideas, then this story will survive. Thanks for sticking with me. Enjoy.**

Chapter 18:

The next few weeks pass by uneventfully. All the couples keep their distance from each other, finally having some peace with each other. Leo is plastered to Calypso day and night, and I'm just as plastered to Will.

We're the perfect loophole to the "No Opposite Gender Person In Your Cabin" rule, and I don't think Chiron has realized our exploitation of this rule. I don't plan on telling him anytime soon.

And it's not like we're doing anything _terrible._ Mostly just staying up to ungodly hours watching TV.

"Tonight can we _please_ watch the Walking Dead?" I crawl on top of him and try to pin him down. He wrestles out of my grip and grabs the computer.

"We can't break the computer _again._ Annabeth would kill us," he scolds me with a teasing smile. Apparently, the "monster-safe" computers that Annabeth makes don't appreciate being dropped from my bed.

"Will Solace, I swear to all the gods, if you put on another episode of _Project Runway,_ I will run away," I lie down next to him on the large bed.

He stops his typing and arches his eyebrow at me. "Was that an attempt at a pun?" The screen illuminates his face and I can make out his individual freckles.

I flick his nose and he recoils away. I jump on him, straddling his back, and kiss his neck. "So _Walking Dead_ it is?"

He sighs and pushes me off his back. He reluctantly puts on _Walking Dead _and we watch in relative peace, lying next to each other.

By the time we're halfway through an episode, I'm halfway on top of Will, grabbing his back in fear. "Again, why do you like these scary TV shows if you're scared of them?" He pauses the show to get another box of popcorn and refills the bowl. Half of it was spilled throughout the episode, when I jump back in fear, knocking the bowl over.

I get off the bed as well, picking up the mounds of popcorn off the floor. When I look at him bending over to pick up some popcorn, I snicker at the sight of him. His sun-spotted boxers alway get a laugh out of me; he looks like a six year old.

"You shouldn't be laughing. Have you seen yourself? You have a real Iron Man addiction," he retorts without even looking back. I look down and I realize he's right. My Iron Man boxers match my pajama top, with his Arc Reactor heart planted in the middle of my t-shirt.

I blush a dark red and slap his butt playfully. "Put some clothes on, just in case someone walks in," I tell him. He always likes stripping down to his boxers, and has slowly dwindled me down to just my boxers and t-shirt. Soon, he'll probably make me just stay in only boxers.

Before he can respond, there's a soft knock at the door. My eyes widen and I quickly check the time. It's past lights-out, so it's probably not Chiron or Mr. D, but I'm still cautious. Will straightens and scampers out of sight of the door, still in just his boxers. I, with my t-shirt on, give him a _told you so _look and walk quietly to the door.

I nudge the door open slightly and peek my head out. The night breeze runs by my exposed legs and I start to get goosebumps. "Yes?" I strain my eyes to see in the dark night, but I can't make out who it is.

"Can you two keep it down? It's past midnight, you know," Percy's voice scolds, and I can finally make out his face. "Some of us are trying to sleep."

My eyes widen and I rush to answer. "What? No one's in here," I pray to all the gods, hoping Will's out of sight of the door. I open it slowly and expose half the room. More night air rushes inside, chilling my whole body.

"Yeah, sure. Because it was just _coincidence_ that I heard your boyfriend's voice coming from your cabin," he retorts, raising an eyebrow. A noise grabs his attention for a second and he looks away. A light from another cabin turned on, so I peek out the door.

Annabeth's blonde hair reflects off the Poseidon Cabin's light, brighter than a beacon in the dark night. She squints to see who it is, wearing one of Percy's t-shirts.

Now it's my turn to raise an eyebrow. Percy turns back to me slowly and narrows his eyes. "How about we both forget that this little incident happened, okay?" He slowly walks back to Annabeth and his cabin, barefoot.

"Stay safe!" I call softly, but loud enough for both of them to hear. Annabeth blushes and turns away, while Percy just flips me off.


	19. Chapter 19

**I promise next week's post is going to get a little more interesting. Enjoy.**

Chapter 19:

I retreat back to the warmth of my cabin, chuckling to myself. I find Will in a corner, still in his underwear. Once he sees me, he relaxes and bounces onto the large bed. "What'd Percy say?" He winks at me and adds, "Did he offer to join?"

I pick up a stray piece of popcorn and throw it at him. "You're gross," he laughs as it hits him. "No, he just told us to keep it down. But then Annabeth came out of _his _cabin, so we'll keep that to ourselves."

His eyes widen and he stats laughing. I suppress him before he wakes up the whole camp, and we go back to watching the _Walking Dead._****

A few episodes, and lots of cuddling later, we fall asleep in each other's arms, popcorn strewn across the bed. The morning conch wakes me up slowly, but as usual, Will's still asleep.

I slowly untangle myself from Will, realizing my hand was on his butt the whole night. My eyes widen, and I retract it from his boxers. As I take my hand away, I see him smile just the slightest and I know he's awake.

"Like what you felt?" He asks groggily. His eyes flutter open and he looks at me. Finally, I untwine myself from him and lay on my back.

"You're gross, Will," I get up and start to put on some clothes. "Come on, stop acting asleep and get up before people start leaving their cabins."

He groans and slowly steps out of bed. "Relax, Kayla's got my back if anyone catches us." He hugs me from behind and kisses my neck, still in his boxers.

"Yeah, okay, but can you at least help me clean up?" Coca Cola cans are crunched up on the floor, and many tiny pieces of popcorn are still all across the bed. I pull a broom out of the closet and start sweeping.

"Where'd you get a broom?" He looks at me confused. I sweep away all the popcorn off the bed and into a dustpan.

"Hazel; she always wanted a clean cabin," I dump the contents of the dustpan into the incinerator. It makes a big _whoosh_, indicating the popcorn's been thoroughly roasted. "I think she was just afraid of the cleaning harpies."

He laughs at the notion and starts to put on his clothes. "You wore the same underwear last night," I remark. "I really hope you clean them soon."

Will audibly sighs. "I have such a demanding boyfriend. So difficult to please you."

I smile inwardly and keep sweeping. "So if anyone asks why you were in my cabin-."

"I'll say I was helping you clean your super messy room. And we won't have to worry about Percy, right?" He sits on the bed and ties his shoes.

"I don't think he'll be a problem," I remember the look on his face when Annabeth popped her head out his cabin. Priceless.

"I'm heading out. See you tonight for the same?" He winks at me and pulls me in an embrace. I lean my head up and brush our lips together. With him being so tall, it's all I can do without him leaning down, which is so frustrating.

I can feel his lips stretch into a smile and he teases me for a second with our lips just barely touching. Finally he leans down and our lips finally meet, flesh against flesh.

We stay there for a good minute, just hugging and kissing, trying to get as much body contact as possible. He finally lets go and I notice him blushing hard.

"You better lose those red cheeks before you leave, or some people are going to get some ideas," I tell him as he leaves.


	20. Chapter 20

**Enjoy.**

Chapter 20:

The next week goes by uneventfully. Will came over a few times, but I've complained of my lack of sleep, so he stayed in his cabin a few nights. We made up that lost time with his healing sessions, where he finally let me Shadow Travel under surveillance.

"Okay, Shadow Travel to me," he calls from fifty meters away. I huff and concentrate on the spot right next to him. If he was closer to me, I'd explain to him that it's hard to Shadow Travel to an _exact_ location. I can obviously do it since I'm an expert, but it isn't easy.

"I summon the darkness to cocoon me, and I feel myself ripped into shadows. Icy wind ruffles my hair for an instant, then I'm back into the mortal world. I land softly on grass and slowly open my eyes.

I let out my breath and asses myself. I flex my fingers, and don't feel any throbbing in my head, which is a huge improvement.

"Hey, that was good. How do you feel?" Will's voice calls from behind. I turn and find him a few feet away. _Not that far off, _I mentally compliment myself.

"Great. More fatigue than I expected, but no throbbing head or loss of feeling in fingers," I report and he scribbles it down on his clipboard. "It was much smoother than my jumps with Reyna and Coach Hedge. Those were pure pain."

"Jumps?" Will arches his eyebrow, unfamiliar with the word.

"It's another word for Shadow Traveling. Like jumping through space," he nods in understanding. "But I've lost my endurance in jumping, so I'll need to start practicing again. Same with all my other powers; you've stopped me from using them for weeks and they're getting rusty."

"Slowly," he reminds me. "You're still not 100%." He brings me in an embrace and I reluctantly hug him back.

I grumble something about wanting to use my powers more, but he just hugs me harder, snuffing out any noises I was making.

"Just listen to the doctor, for once," he whispers. I smile during our hug and start to pull away, hungry for lunch.

Before I can detach myself from him, a gust of cool air sucks us downward. When I look down, the ground has opened up, and we're falling through the ground.

The icy air is the exact air when Shadow Traveling, so I instantly know what's happening. Will's grip on me tightens and his face grows into one of shock, but I stare at him, bored.

The ground rushes toward us, and I prepare for the landing. The two of us land relatively softly, but Will still stumbles to the ground. I, with my countless experiences, land perfectly on my feet, arms crossed.

Will scrambles up and dusts off the dirt from his shorts. "What now?" I call to the jagged rocks around us.

"Nico, where are we?" Will puts his arm around me and looks around. "Who are you calling to?"

"Wait," I put a hand up, stopping his questions.

A few seconds later, Hades, on his throne of iron, appears, looking sad. "Why aren't you more excited to se your father? Some demigods never get to hang out with their godly parent."

I look at him and his stupid blue hair. "If they had the god of death as a father, they may be thankful not seeing him every week." I tap my foot impatiently.

"It's great to see you too, son. You look taller; how long ago did you come visit?" Hades asks innocently. His eyes are emotionless, but I see a sparkle of amusement in them.

"Three day, father. Three days. And you abducted me, I didn't _visit_," I roll my eyes. "What's the problem this time; did some ghosts escape again? And why is Will with us?"

My dad gets up and starts pacing, his 40-foot robe _swooshing_ behind him. "Well, you see, it's a little more complicated than that.

"As you know, monster migration into the Underworld always fluctuates. Sometimes monsters aren't killed too much, so there's more in the mortal world, sometimes there's more monsters in the Underworld. What I'm trying to tell you is that there's a lot more monsters in the mortal world than usual. And when I mean a lot, there are more monsters in the Overworld than any time in 800 years. The last time there was so many monsters in the mortal world was when the Plague wiped out a third of the population.

"So, I need you two to scout, look at what the monsters are doing. Because it can get bad. Very bad, very fast."


	21. Chapter 21

**I'm ****finally back, so hope for weekly uploads. I've finally found a good plotline to follow and want to try it out. I thank you if you've come this far because I'm starting to hate my first chapters on the "Infirmary" part, since it's so annoyingly common. The thing I've realized is that Rick's taken literally all the antagonists possible (excluding Chaos, but that's also annoyingly common), so I might have to recycle one, and I'll try to make it unique. Thanks for reading. Enjoy.**

Chapter 21:

"What the _hell_," I curse. I turn to Will's wide eyes. "Can you not make that much noise?"

Will takes another step and the dry leaves crinkle under his shoe. "Sorry," he whispers. I stifle a laugh whenever I look at him, his blonde hair dyed brown. His blue eyes twinkle, even with his mess dark hair. We had to dye his hair dark for this stealth mission; his blonde hair would stand out like a beacon.

I can feel the hoards of monsters just across the hill, which is still almost a mile away. Their presence is almost painful, it's so powerful. "This isn't good," I say as I lower myself to the ground, queasy.

Will Will moves his bow to cast some light on my face. "Nico? Are you okay?" His voice confirms that I look as bad as I feel. He kneels and plants a kiss on my cheek. "What's wrong? Are there too many?"

I take a few breaths, the cool night air calms me down. "No, I'm okay. There's just so many of them. Let's get out of here as soon as we can."

He nods and helps me up. We stand next to each other for a second, looking into each other's eyes. I lean up into his lips and we kiss, calming my nerves. "Let's do this."

I lead the way to the hilltop, following the trail. We pass a sign saying, "Up ahead: Great View of Washington DC." I divert from that path, wanting to look at the other side of the hill, where all the monsters lay.

The stench hits me before I actually see the camp. A huge cloud of sweat, death and monsters hang in the air. Will smells it too because he starts coughing, gagging on the smell.

But once I actually see the camp, it's worse than the smell. Much worse. Rows and rows of tents stretch for what seems like miles. Thousands of torches flicker like candles on a cake. From here, everything's the size of an ant, besides three huge tents in the middle.

The next thing that hits me is how organized they are. "Holy Hera, they're more organized than the Romans," Will apparently notices the same thing. "That's a lot of monsters."

"Yeah, I can tell," I respond and keep my sword up, just in case we're ambushed. Will rustles in his backpack for something and pulls out a pair of Ray Bans. "Dude, it's the middle of the night, that won't do anything."

"One of the Hephaestus campers gave it to me; it lets you see in the dark and zoom and stuff," he explains. He puts them on and starts playing with the dials on the side. I hear him gasp lightly a few times while I scour the hilltop for any signs of movement. It seems weird that such an organized army doesn't have guards. Then I reassure myself with the fact that they're monsters and can't really be organized.

Which takes me to the point that it's impossible for monsters to actually group up and be _this_ organized.

"I took some photos to show Chiron. We need to get back as soon as we can, but you take a look first," Will hands me the sunglasses and I pot them on.

Instantly, the glasses adjust themselves to my eyes and instead of darkening the night, they illuminate it like it's daytime. I turn the dials on the glasses to zoom into the three main tents, hoping to see who's leading this army. If only we could figure out who's leading this army, then we would know what they're next plan is.

"We need to notify the Romans as soon as possible. They could easily run us over, and then they'll be next," I take off the sunglasses, returning to the dark night. "Can I Shadow Travel us back to camp?"

I brace myself for Will's ferocious _no_, but it never comes. "Yeah, this is very important. Every day counts," he takes my hand and leads me down the hill. "I'd say no, but Hades said he mended your soul, and I can feel it's whole again."

I think back to when my father laid his hands on my shoulders and fixed me up. It felt like a weight was lifted from me, and I could finally breathe properly.

I nod and we slip into darkness, hand in hand.


	22. Chapter 22

**Things get spicy. Enjoy.**

Chapter 22:

Before we can actually Shadow Travel, the darkness melts around me. "I don't think so, hun," a girl's voice says. Her hand grabs onto my arm and she literally drags us back into reality.

It takes me a moment to recalibrate myself. For a second, I assume I'm back at camp, but the dark hilltop does _not_ look like camp. Will's still blinking and readjusting his eyes, but I realize we're surrounded by two huge giants.

I slowly look up, dreading what I'm going to see. "And honey, don't try Shadow Traveling again. My girl here can just pluck you right back here." A deep faceless voice informs us. The voice is painfully familiar. I try to step back and get a better view of the face, but I'm stopped.

That's when I realize I'm still being held on. I look at who's touching me, and it's a _girl, _a girl probably only a few years older than me. I try to shake her off, uncomfortable being touched, but her iron grip stays firmly on my arm. I give her a cold death stare, and in return she just smiles and winks.

Will finally is functioning, and looks up to the two giants. I do the same, and almost faint.

Th stars are almost all blotted out by the two giants' figures. They tower tens of feet high, higher than any monster I've seen. They are probably taller than the gods' in their normal form.

I don't even have to see their exact features because I know them like the back of my hand. "Otis, Ephialtes, you're looking tall," it takes everything I can to stop myself from slashing their smug smiles off their face.

"You too, Nico. You look healthy. At least more healthy than we saw you before," Otis, or at least I think it's Otis, laughs at the thought.

Will scoots closer to me, probably very confused. "Wait, how do you know these people, Nico?" I can feel him tensing his muscles, but I know we can't escape. We're surrounded, with some crazy skilled girl with two giants to add to that.

"Yeah, they were the giants that captured me last year and put me in the jar." Even saying that brings back the memories of those horrible months. "But they're bigger. And _different._"

"Don't you mean smarter?" Otis, the dumber one, says. "We've been doing our research back in the Underworld. Did you know they have a pretty kick-ass library? Don't even get me started on their great healthcare." I look at him, trying to see if he's joking with us. Father never said anything about a library, much less _healthcare_.

I don't dwell on it for long; I have more pressing matters. "So what? In _two_ months, you're telling me that you two alone have done years of reading, organized an army and trained them so well that they can actually set up a camp?"

Even though we're captured, I want to try and get as much information as I can. Last time I was with them, they told me almost all of Gaia's plan. I aim the question at Otis, who, as I remember, is not as good as keeping secrets as Ephialtes.

"Wouldn't you love to know? I'm not going to tell you our plan like last time. That would have worked on old Otis, but not new Otis," he looks at me proudly, like he did a great deed. By now, the sun has risen above the horizon, spraying its colors across the sky.

"But in all seriousness, how did you two get so tall? You're taller than any other giant I've ever seen," I note. "And you're much more human looking." Their legs are less hairy, and their skin looks just as normal as ours, without the monsters' greenish tint.

"Something that our master did to us. He was very kind in our reformation," Otis wants to say more but is cut off by Ephialtes's elbow.

"I told you to stop talking. We're not going to be stupid and tell him everything," Ephialtes turns back to Will and I, and I can tell he's smiling, even though his face is 60 feet in the air. "You," he points his huge finger at me. "You need to shut up. We need to tie you up and bring you back to our camp.

It's now or never, I think. If Will and I get tied up, we're doomed. I glance back at Will and give a little nod. He grabs my hand and pulls me away from the girl. The instant I feel Will's hand in mine, I think about camp. We slip into the darkness, and I wait for the girl to grab ahold of my legs and pull us back, knowing she's quick enough to grab me.

Sure enough, while we're fading into the darkness, I feel something grip my shoe. Will and I pop back into reality, and my heart sinks before my eyes adjust. But when I open my eyes, there are no monsters, no crazy girl, only Cabin 13.

I stumble and grab onto Will, who's just as disoriented as me. His dark hair still looks foreign to me even after days of recon. When I step, my bare foot hits to dewy grass and sends a chill up my spine.

I shiver and Will notices my lack of shoes. He bursts out laughing, even after everything we've just seen "They must be throwing a fit back there," he says through giggles.

He quickly sobers up and I lean on his shoulder. "That was bad," I sum up. "Really bad."

"Yeah. We need to tell Chiron and alert the Romans."

"No way," I reply sarcastically. "Great idea. I would have never thought of doing that." He looks at me, confused for a second, and I crack a smile.

He smiles and rolls his eyes. "Shut up. This is serious," He walks toward the Big House, and I reluctantly follow. We pass some early-birds who are already up, but they're too groggy to make conversation.

We get to the front of the Big House, where Chiron's out on the porch in his wheelchair. When he sees us, his face gets some concerned. Our grim looks must not be reassuring.

"Chiron, we need to talk."


	23. Chapter 23

**Enjoy.**

Chapter 23:

"So you're telling me there's an army of monsters less than 250 miles away from us?" Connor Stoll asks with wide eyes.

"Yes, you doofus. Will just said that literally seven seconds ago," Travis replies and rolls his eyes. In return, he gets elbowed by Connor and elbows his twin back.

"Can you boys shut up. If you can or can't tell, this is kind of a serious matter," Clarisse taps her dagger on the pool table angrily. Everyone on the War Council has their eyes on her, wondering what she has to say.

Will's set up the magical sunglasses to a projector and has pictures of the monster encampment on one wall. Clarisse gets up and points to the middle tent. "So these two tents are for Otis and Ephialtes, right? That means the tents must be at least 70 feet tall." She goes quiet and starts calculating. "The camp then has to be two or three square miles," she goes quiet again and bites her lip in concentration. "Around 3,000."

She looks at us for a reaction. "3,000 what?" Annabeth's voice is only above a whisper. I dread Clarisse's response, just like everyone else in the War Council.

"Daffodils," Clarisse sighs angrily. I see the persephone Head Councilor perk up, but once he realizes what Clarisse said, he gets sullen. "No. 3,000 monsters. That's twice as many as Octavian's _auxilia_ forces. More than any conjugation of monsters we've ever seen," Clarisse looks Chiron straight in the eye. Mr. D looks bored as usual, but he's fidgety.

Chiron puts down his glasses and sighs slowly. "Never any rest," he mutters under his breath. "Well, has anyone alerted the Romans?"

Jason taps his fingers on the pool table nervously. "Yeah, I sent them an Iris Message. The Amazons are chartering flights for everyone. My dad gave the okay. They should get here by the end of the week."

"We need to send out some scouts; always know their position. Maybe try to slow them down," Will pipes up. "That way they can't sneak up on us."

"Yeah, my guys can slow them down," Connor winks at me and looks at Chiron for the okay. "And this time, we _won't_ put the land mines on the wrong hill." Connor glares at Travis, but Travis just brushes his brother off.

Something about the girl was so unsettling for me. No mortal, or even demigod should have been able to pull me out of Shadow Traveling. The only other time that happened was with my father, when I tried to Shadow Travel away from him.

"Guys," I clear my throat. Instantly, everyone turns their head toward me, and I almost want to apologize and shut up, but I keep talking. Will squeezes my hand under the table to reassure me. "The girl that we encountered is really bothering me. When I tried to Shadow Travel away, she grabbed me and ripped me back to reality. No other person besides children of Hades can do that. I'm not saying she's a child of Hades, but if she's a demigod, we need to be careful around her."

Chiron nods grimly. "Did you two recognize her? If she ever came to camp, we can find out who she is." Her sly smile sticks out in my brain, but it reminds me of no one I've ever seen before.

Will and I shake our head, much to the Head Councilor's sadness. "That's what our recon teams will try to figure out," Travis puts in with a scary smile. "We have some new tricks we've been working on, and this is a great opportunity."

"Leo," Chiron swivels his wheelchair to face him. "You're in charge of out defenses. Do whatever you need to do to keep the monsters out."

"Okay, and I have an idea. I just want to run it by you," Leo, who's next to me, asks. "I've been thinking, and why don't we just build a wall. We have the wood, we have the manpower, and it's a great defense system. I know Sparta didn't have any walls, but Athens was famous for their Long Walls. They're super reliable."

Chiron takes a moment to think about it. "Why not. But stay once the War Council's over so we can talk about it." He looks around to everyone. When his eyes land on Clarisse, he inclines his head. "And you'll be in charge of getting the campers battle-ready."

Clarisse nods solemnly and stands up. "Come on, all of us have lots to do. Lets go," she marches out the door, and the rest of us slowly follow.


	24. Chapter 24

**I'm liking where this is going. Enjoy.**

Chapter 24:

Clarisse is waiting outside the Big House, a concerned look on her face. As I walk by her, she grabs my arm and drags me out of earshot of the others. I look behind me and see Will staring.

"Nice to see you too," I shake off her arm and try not to sound annoyed.

"Yeah, sorry. You know the Romans better than I, and to be totally honest, I still don't trust them, but they're our only hope," she looks at me like she's waiting for a response, but I stay quiet. "I've been thinking about the our camp's military strategy."

I was about to interject, asking _what strategy?_ but she beats me to it. "Which is essentially nothing, and I was thinking about a way to fix that. The Romans are always so organized, and I realized, so were the Greeks, at one point in history."

I give her a crazy look, lost as to what she's talking about. When we fought alongside the Romans, they made us look like monkeys freed from a zoo. But I let her continue.

"We invented the phalanx, _we_ were the first to use an organized military. The Greeks beat the Persians with superior tactics, and I think it's time for us to embrace our ancestry." In her passion, she inches closer to me until her muscular frame dominates over me.

I take a step back, and she subsides. "Looks like you've been doing some research," I note, while buying time to think of what to say. "But why do you need me? I can't help you." I almost turn away, but I remember it's Clarisse, and she could easily pummel me if she wanted to.

"Oh yes you can. I'm not the best strategist, if you can't tell, and you're friends with the Romans," Clarisse explains. "You know the Jacob kid-."

"Jason," I correct with a smile.

"Whatever, they're all the same to me," she responds with a hint of distrust in her voice. "So I need you to ask them to help us. I hate to ask the Romans for help, but if we want to learn strategy, they're the best ally we have."

It makes sense to me, but I doubt the Romans would have any experience with he phalanx. With my limited historical knowledge, I don't remember anywhere saying the Romans used the phalanx.

And plus, actually having an organized military will be great for us. "Yeah, Clarisse. I'd love to help. I'll go look for Jason right now."

I turn to go, but my nose fills with the smell of grapes, and I hear a _pop._ I turn back to Clarisse and see Mr. D leaning next to her, his arm on one of her shoulders.

Clarisse, obviously uncomfortable, moves and no loner becomes Mr. D's personal armrest. In that moment, with the two of them standing next to each other, I notice how tall Mr. D is. I've always noticed he's good looking, obviously not as good looking as Apollo, but he's not _ugly. _The sunset light paints his face a golden color, and his almost-purple eyes gleam with a certain craziness. He's taller than Clarisse, a feat not easily accomplished. He's not as burly as her, but he definitely has some muscle on his bones.

Mr. D suppresses a smile and signals me over. "Whenever you're done marveling at my beauty, I need to talk to you two." My eyes widen and a blush spreads across my face. I quickly walk back to Clarisse while not making any eye contact.

Clarisse can't tell if Mr. D's joking or not, but she thankfully doesn't ask. He turns to Clarisse and explains why he's here. "I overheard your conversation, and couldn't help but cringe. It was a noble effort Clarisse, but you're barking up the wrong tree. The Romans don't have the answers, I do."

At that, I look up to see if he's joking, but he looks completely serious. Clarisse looks like she's about to burst out laughing, but contains herself.

"I'm serious. Chiron always painted me as a rowdy student, which I was, but I was of some use," he explains. "How do you think we conquered India? That was all me. My followers were unruly, yes, but in battle, they were disciplined. We were the most lethal battalion in Alexander the Great's whole army."

Mr. D just reaffirms my suspicion about the Romans and their nonexistent knowledge of the phalanx. But I didn't know about Mr. D's extensive military experience. "So you want to teach the whole camp the phalanx formation?" Clarisse asks. She seems very unsure about the whole ordeal. "Isn't that an infringement on the whole _gods can't have direct interactions with demigods _thing?"

"Well I'm the head of this camp, so as the leader of this camp, I'm going to teach a class. It'll be called _phalanx for failures. _Or maybe _Phalanx for Dummies: How to _not _Die During Combat_. I don't know. I'll think of some catchy name later," Mr. D thinks out loud.

"And who's going to come to this class? No offense Mr. D, but not many people are very fond of you," I point out. I realize it's a risky thing to say, but the words rush out before I can stop them.

"Darling, everyone's coming. I'm making it mandatory," he says with a crazy smile. He pulls out a megaphone from nowhere and projects it upwards.

"Hello Camp Half-Blood," he yells into the megaphone. "This is the lovely Mr. D speaking. I'm hosting mandatory classes from nine to twelve, and two to four every day. If you value your life, attend this class. Thank you for listening, Mr. D out."

He puts down his megaphone and turns back to us. "See you tomorrow at nine," he says with a dangerously crazy smile and turns away.


	25. Chapter 25

**I'm liking where this is going. Enjoy.**

Chapter 25:

Clarisse turns to me with narrowed eyes. "Something doesn't seem right. Why is Mr. D just now starting to care about the camp's welfare?"

"I have no idea. But he's our best chance," I shrug. "But he's right, the Romans won't be able to help us. They never used the phalanx." I pause and turn to go, "I'll see you tomorrow at nine."

I go to walk away, seeing that Will's still waiting for me next to the Big House. "Wait," Clarisse calls from behind me. "Was Mr. D serious about how you were checking him out?"

My eyes widen and another blush spreads across my face. I try to hid it by turning away, but my silence is enough of an answer. "That is so gross, Nico. Cute, but wrong on so many levels."

With that, I walk away with a small smile. Will notices me smiling and asks why I'm smiling. "Oh nothing."

I keep it at that and we talk for a little, waiting for the dinner bell to ring. We pass by Calypso and Leo, who always seem to be together. I still can't believe how self-centered Calypso is. For thousands of years, boys and men have come to her island to fall in love with her, but when I show up and have no interest at all, she get's all angry. I just hope Calypso actually likes Leo and doesn't break his heart in the end.

That thought gets me sad, thinking about how excited Leo was when he came back to camp. The dinner bell saves me from more of those thoughts, so Will and I walk to the Mess Hall. We start to pass by more and more people, and all of them are talking about Mr. D's announcement.

"What are we going to do?"

"Do you think we're in trouble?"

"Why is he finally interested into our lives?"

Will catches these whispers as well and leans into my ear. "So what exactly are we doing tomorrow?"

"You'll just have to see," I respond with a sneaky smile. I go sit at my designated table before he can respond.

Dinner is uneasy. Lots of people look around nervously, either by the news of a huge monster army in DC, or of Mr. D's odd request. Either way, dinner didn't feel right. Even Chiron looked a little on the edge.

I wake up the next morning and groggily get ready for the day. I grab my sword and head out, ready for Mr. D's classes.

People are all heading toward the Arena, the dirt field where people spar. I see Annabeth walk by, so I step in line with her.

"Hey," she says when she sees me. "You know what we're going to do? Mr. D's asking for a lot of time every day and I have things to do." She seems annoyed.

She turns around to see if her cabin's behaving and glares at a couple of the loud kids. I'm so glad I don't have to worry about anyone else in my cabin.

"And plus, why does he care? He doesn't know anyone's name here, anyway," she says bitterly. "Maybe I can talk to him and get my cabin to get out of whatever he's asking of."

I don't want to explain that she can't get out of it, so I stay quiet. A good chunk of the camp is already at the Arena, making a semicircle around Mr. D and Chiron. Next to them are piles of huge shields and spears, making everyone else even more curious.

The weirdest sight of all is Mr. D. Instead of his usual Hawaiian shirt and shorts, he's clad in full purple battle armor. In one hand is one of those huge shields, and in the other is a spear.

Once everyone's here, Mr. D bangs his spear on the ground, silencing the campers. I look around and notice how large the camp has become, I've heard some cabins will need to be redone to accommodate so many people. _It must be because we made the gods promise to claim all their kids,_ I muse.

"Thank you all for coming," he begins and paces back and forth. "If you haven't heard, there's a huge monster army close by and you guys are _not _prepared. Have we ever had a gameplan going into battles? Never. The Romans have their fancy Legions and formations; you have nothing. You just go into battle swinging. No plan, no strategy. But I plan to fix that."

This gets people whispering. Annabeth, who's still next to me, frowns and looks at her step-siblings. They shrug, not knowing what Mr. D's talking about.

Mr. D snaps and a whiteboard appears. He takes a marker and starts drawing. He draws a diagram of a battle. "Let's see who knows their history. Battle of Marathon. How did we defeat the Persians?"

He turns toward me and the Athena campers. They look at each other, no one wanting to answer. Finally, Annabeth speaks up. "Well, the Greeks surrounded the Persians and beat them."

"Yes, but how?" Mr. D circles the Greek part of the diagram for emphasis. "How?"

Annabeth furrows her eyebrows, "What do you mean?"

Before she can go further, he booms, "The phalanx! They used the phalanx! That's what I'm trying to get at." Annabeth still has her eyebrows furrowed. I doubt she liked getting the wrong answer. "That is what I'm going to teach you; how to fight like real Greeks. We'll show the Romans the true definition of organization. We were the ones that invented it!"

Mr. D waits until the whispers have died down. "For those of you who _don't _know what the Hades a phalanx is, it's simple." He turns back to the whiteboard and draws some more. "There's an impenetrable wall of shields lined up side-by-side, with an array of spears jutting out from the shields." He snaps again and the whiteboard disappears.

"So we first need to get into groups. Since we don't have thousands of people at our disposal, we'll need to compress," he turns to Chiron and asks him how many campers we have.

"As of now, around 250," Chiron responds. "Not including the archers."

"Okay that's perfect. We can split into five groups, each group eight people wide and six people thick. Chiron will take the archers and talk to them, while I'll be here to explain how a phalanx works. Let's get moving."


	26. Chapter 26

**Sorry I haven't uploaded. I'll try to write a lot this week, but hold tight. Enjoy.**

Chapter 26:

After splitting up, Mr. D immediately assigns us into groups. "I'll try to keep the cabins as together as possible, but no promises." In the end, the Demeter, Persephone, and Dionysus cabins make up one whole phalanx, while the Hermes cabin alone makes up another. The Hephaestus, Aphrodite and Iris cabin make up the third, while the fourth and fifth phalanxes are a mixture of all the smaller cabins and the Athena cabin.

"You all will have designated weapons, the shield and the spear," lots of people groan at having to surrender their weapons. Mr. D rolls his eyes. "Fine, you whiners. You can keep your weapons with you, but you _must_ learn to use these, or the whole phalanx is ruined."

Mr. D keeps talking about precision and teamwork until almost noon. Finally, he lets us split into our respective groups once we get our ow spear and shield. "These four satyrs fought beside me in the glory days of Greece, and will help guide you to be the best," Mr. D snaps and four muscular, and surprisingly good looking, satyrs _pop_ into existence next to Dionysus. "I'll handle the last phalanx." They each take a group of campers and introduce themselves.

"Hello," the satyr for your group flashes a perfect smile. I can't help but notice his defined muscles and structured face. "I'm Jamie, and I'll be you're captain, kind of." He pauses to think. "I'm here to teach you guys what a phalanx is, if you can't tell."

He seems awkward talking to a large group, so he quickly gets to work. He orders us to get into rows of eight, with the biggest and strongest in the front. Jamie adjusts everyone's stances until they're all perfect.

Just standing out here in the sun has gotten me sweating. It doesn't help that I have to carry a ten foot long spear and a heavy shield. "First two rows!" Jamie shouts. "Lower your spears!" Before, all 48 spears were sticking up, out of the way. Now, the front of our phalanx was a wall of shields and a thicket of spears.

I am near the back, so I can just rest the spear on the ground, while holing it straight up. There's a blade at the bottom of the spear, which fits nicely into the dirt of the Arena.

"Now, when you advance, you _have _to be in sync with everyone else. The only way the phalanx is effective is if you work together," Jamie reminds us for the twentieth time. "When you march, always start with your right foot. Take small steps, but don't shuffle. Get in a rhythm with the people next to you and you'll do great. Precision is everything."

We keep drilling for a couple of hours until no one runs into anyone anymore. Lots of people are grumbling about their aching muscles from carrying the spear and shield, but Mr. D doesn't seem to care. When he finally calls a lunch break, a collective sigh of relief could be heard, along with dozens of shields being dropped to the ground.

"Be back in 2 hours!" Jamie calls to our phalanx. "And now that you're a team, you'll all be eating together." Half our phalanx turns back to Jamie to see if he's joking. Lots of the smaller cabins don't have many siblings, so they get close to lots of people out of their cabin. I don't care, really, because I'd rather be alone for a while after being in such close proximity with so many people. All their sweaty bodies aren't my favorite things to be next to.

Lou Ellen is sitting at our table, and hails me over. "Hey Nico, I didn't know you were in our group," she seems pleasantly surprised. "This is Pat, one of my siblings." She introduces me to him, and he gives me a smile.

"Hi," I give a small smile back and sit down next to Lou. "So what did you think of that training?" I'm not the best at conversations, but I'm going to try.

"I thought it was great. We can finally be effective on the battlefield, like the Romans," Lou explains. Pat rolls his eyes in response.

"Not all of us want to be spending half our day training to be in a bloody phalanx. We did perfectly fine against the Titans in Manhattan, why should we change? If it isn't broken, why fix it?" Pat responds. It catches me by surprise that he has a British accent, not something you hear at Camp.

"We had twice as many casualties as the Romans in the battle with Gaia, and I don't know about you, but I don't want to be one of them." Lou's one of the only people I've heard that actually likes this training. The person next to me is grumbling about the time commitment and the girl across from me wants more breaks.

Sooner than I thought, Jamie calls us back onto the field. "Phalanx four, get back into position!" When someone asks what we'll be doing, he responds with a dangerous smile, similar to Mr. D's. "Drills. More drills. And once we're done with those, even more drills."


	27. Chapter 27

**I'm such a bad person, I'm sorry for not posting. I have some more written so I'll post more regularly. Sorry for it getting so dark and depressing, but I have a plan. I always have a plan. Enjoy.**

Chapter 27:

A week later, my sore muscles became hard, almost defined. All the skin from my thin frame has filled out into small muscles. The constant aching has turned into ease, and I can drill for hours without complaining.

But my whole body hurts, but I've gotten used to it. "I told you to put on my soreness cream," Will keeps pestering me. He's stayed over at my cabin for the past three days, just massaging my aching body.

"My muscles don't feel so sore today, maybe we can skip tonight's massages? I could really use the sleep, too," I ask Will before the curfew. I can tell the bags under his eyes have been getting darker and darker.

"Okay, I think we both can use the sleep," he gets up and gives me a quick kiss. "Sweet dreams darling."

He gets up from my bed and walks to the door. I slap his butt on the way there and say good night. "See you tomorrow."

Once he's out the door, I jump right back into bed and quickly fall into a much-needed slumber.

The moment I get to the really nice, deep sleep, I'm pulled into a dream.

The second I'm in the dream, I can tell it's different from my other dreams. In this one, I can smell the people around me and feel the sun on my neck. I look around and see people surround me in a ring. To my surprise, Will's in the middle of the circle, tied to woken stakes.

"Oh, Nico. Help me, please. Nico, help," Will's voice trembles and he lets out a chocked sob. That's when I notices the gashes all along Will's body and down his legs. His shorts are so shredded, I'm surprised they're still up.

All thoughts of this being a dream leave, and I try to go and help him. My legs won't respond to my thoughts, and a girl appears next to me. I recognize her as the powerful demigod that Will and I met on our recon nods to me and I involuntarily pick up a whip and step toward Will.

It takes me a horrible moment to realize what she's making me do. My mind tries everything to stop my feet from walking toward Will with the whip, but my body defies my brain and keeps whipping Will. Every time the whip connects with his body, he cries my name, each time getting softer and softer.

All I can do is watch myself beat my boyfriend bloody. Tears form in my eyes and they blur my vision, but my whip strikes true every time.

"Nico, please. Stop, it, it hurts," Will's voice is so soft it's almost inaudible. Tears mix with blood as they drip down his body, and he locks eyes with me. There's more than pain behind them, there's betrayal. Then next few thrashes, Will goes quiet, and I can see his blue eyes just drip tears down them. Never in my life, even in the Underworld, have I seen so much pain on someone.

Finally, the girl raises her hand and my body stops the beating. I finally get control of my body and I instantly drop the whip and step toward Will. But by the time I cradle his head on my shoulders, I can't feel a pulse.

That moment of realization that I just killed Will was enough to wake me up. I lay in bed, paralyzed in a pool of my sweat. It takes me a few minutes to regulate my breathing, but my heart is pounding.

I don't know how I'm going to go back to sleep, but before I can try, I hear a frantic knocking at the door. I check the clock and see it isn't even past midnight. I can't think of who it is, but I hear an urgent whisper from the door. "Nico, Nico, let me in," Will whispers through the door crack.

I get up in an instant. Will couldn't have dreamed the same thing as me, but why else would he be so frantic? My mind races, maybe he's angry that I killed him in the dream.

I get up, with only my underwear on and open the door. The instant I open the door, Will jumps into my arms and sobs uncontrollably. "It's horrible, I had a horrible dream, Nico."

I hug him back, tears forming in my eyes. "I know, I had it too," I whisper back. This gets his attention and he pulls away to look at me. His puffy eyes look at me curiously.

"What?" His voice was barely audible. "Where I- I- I killed you?"

Now it's my turn to look confused, but before I say anything, I close the door and lead him to the bed. I sit next to him and just feel around his body, searching for any evidence of the marks I gave him.

I finally look back at him and explain. "But in my dream, it was me whipping you," I whisper and try to remember it's just a dream. "I will never, _ever_ do that to you. Ever. Will, I will never hurt you." I look his straight in his eyes.

"Neither will I," he brings our foreheads together and we just hold each other for a bit. We lie down next to each other, trying to get as close as we can to each other. "It was just so realistic."

"I know. It was," I caress every inch of him, trying to undo the wounds I inflicted on him in the dream. He does the same. "But we're here, in one piece, together."

He nods and we slowly fall asleep in each other's arms.


	28. Chapter 28

**I've been thinking about changing the title of the fanfic because it's really bland, but I don't know what to change it to... Sorry for not getting this up yesterday. Enjoy.**

The next week, Will sleeps in my cabin every night. And almost every night, we have the hellish dream of whipping each other to death. Tonight, after an especially brutal torturing, I wake up screaming.

Will jolts awake as well, probably going through the same thing in his own dream. For a few moments, we just lie in each other's arms, trying to calm our racing hearts. Tears stream down my face as I recall the horrors I did to Will.

"Oh Nico, I'm so sorry," he whispers and moves next to me. "I'm right here, it's just a dream." I bury myself in his arms and try to forget about Will's haunting screams.

"I just want it to stop. It's horrible," I say between breaths. I caress him all over, just like every night. It still feels so real, even after the same dream for a week. He's quiet for a moment, thinking.

"We should talk to Clovis tomorrow. He may be able to help."

"Okay, but it's probably nothing. As you said, it's just a dream," my argument doesn't even convince myself. Some part of me is still holding onto the hope it's just a big coincidence and it means nothing.

A knocking at the door interrupts my train of thought. I look at Will with a questioning look. I'm not afraid of getting caught together, Percy and Annabeth sleep together all the time, but it'll still be awkward if Chiron was at the door. And plus, after these scarring dreams, I'm always a little shaken.

The knocking doesn't stop, so I reluctantly disentangle myself from Will and walk to the door.

I contemplate whether I should put a t-shirt on. I decide against it, I already have shorts on. "Coming," I say softly, but loud enough for the person outside to hear.

When I get to the door, I open it slowly, so the night air doesn't freeze the room. Thankfully, it's only Percy and Annabeth. "Can we come in? It's cold," he doesn't even wait for a response and walks in with Annabeth, who also seems to be shaking.

Percy has an old Camp Half Blood t-shirt on that's just a little too tight on him. It annoys me that I notice the shirt makes his muscles look big. "Hey Will," Annabeth notices him on the bed. "We, um, were just a little worried. Sorry to barge in."

Will responds with a friendly smile, and gets up to put some clothes on. "So what's up?" I ask them as they sit next to each other on Hazel's bed. Seeing them so close together, so comfortable with each other, used to make me jealous, but now I have Will. He comes back with a t-shirt and shorts on, making me the least clothed in the room.

He sits next to me as Annabeth explains. Her face darkens quickly. "Well, we heard one of you scream, so we wanted to drop by and see if everything's okay."

My eyes widen, thinking for a formidable excuse. I really hope they don't think Will and I were doing _the thing._ "Um, I just had a really bad dream. I've been having them recently," I reply casually. "That's why he's here, to comfort me." I incline my head toward Will.

"What kind of dreams were you having?" Annabeth replies, just as casual. But I can tell she has a glint of fear in her eyes. "We were also having some lately." She grips Percy's hand tighter.

That's when I start thinking if they're having the same dream. Why else would they be here? They probably heard my scream right when they woke up from the torturing dream, so they assumed I had the dream as well.

That's when I put two and two together. My eyes widen and Will's grip on my leg tightens. "Where you, um, torture each other?" I ask just above a whisper.

Percy and Annabeth look at each other and he puts a protective arm around her, as if she was still being tortured. "This isn't good," Annabeth's voice is shaky. "I've never had a dream this realistic before. I haven't been sleeping, and I can barely get my mind off it."

"We're going to the Hypnos cabin tomorrow and see if they have any answers," Will suggests. "That's a good place to start. If they don't have anything, we'll tell Chiron. With the Romans coming in, we can ask the others if they've been having similar dreams."

Percy nods and furrows his eyebrows. "I talked to Jason and he said he had an almost identical dream, only with Piper instead of Annabeth. I don't think Piper said anything about the dream, but I have a feeling she may be having it as well."

This doesn't look good. The senior demigods are all having the same tormenting dream, right when an unknown monster army is marching their way as we speak.

"Okay, but try to get some sleep. It would be bad if the monsters come and we haven't slept in days," Will advises to all of us. I did notice the bags under their eyes and how dark they were.

"Yeah, but staying awake the whole night is almost better than going through that torture," Percy complains, but gets up anyway.

"Thanks so much, and sorry for barging in," Annabeth follows Percy toward the door.

"Sweet dreams," I say sarcastically once they're walking out the door.


	29. Chapter 29

**Sorry I didn't post last week, finals were hectic. Now that it's summer, I'll be posting _at least _once a week. Sorry this chapter was a little short Enjoy.**

"Okay everyone, today's your day off! Rest and relax. Tomorrow we'll resume sessions as usual," Mr. D announces. I couldn't have heard a nicer two sentences in my life. A content smile spreads across my face and I start to unstrap my armor. A few curious Roman campers peer at our smiles curiously.

In the end, only about a quarter of the Romans got planes chartered, and the flights were filled with mostly senior officers. The rest of Camp Jupiter were bussed, along with all their supplies. The main bulk of Romans got here yesterday and they were all interested in our phalanx training. I've seen Reyna, Jason, and Frank all watching keenly on our progress since they got to Camp.

With all the Roman campers and supplies, things have been more exciting. In the day they've been here, things have moved a little quicker. Training has become more serious, and they satyrs have cracked down on slackers. The Aphrodite kids are so tired, they don't have breath to complain anymore. Mr. D has started putting each phalanx against each other as practice.

Even the wall that Leo's commissioned has seen significant improvement. In the day the Romans have been here, there's twice as many people working on it, with more equipment. It's like no one remembers a few months ago when the Romans were about to obliterate us.

Jamie, my phalanx leader, tugs on my arm before I can take off by breastplate. "Mr. D wants to speak to you before you go." My heart sinks, but I put on a stoic face.

I grab my iron sword and make my way toward Chiron. Annabeth and Percy are already talking to Mr. D. Percy's let his stubble grow out, making him look almost as old as Dionysus. I'm still a lot younger than the two of them, but, much to my satisfaction, I'm almost as tall as Annabeth.

"Hey Nico," Percy smiles when he sees me walking toward them. I can tell he's trying to ignore the fact we both know we've been having horrible dreams. Leo and Piper both show up next to Mr. D, and I'm starting to understand what's happening.

It seems like all the senior campers are being assembled for some reason. I hear Will giggle and I turn, happy that he's part of the senior campers. But once I turn, my smile fades. Walking with him is an Aphrodite camper, I think his name is Cameron. Cameron's pinching Will on the side, making Will giggle and squirm. Before Will can get out of Cameron's reach, Cameron brings him back to him by slinging his arm around Will.

Now I may seem naive on some topics, but crushes and love is not one of those. Being with Persephone half the year, and just alone with my feelings has really augmented my knowledge about that subject. I remember one of Persephone's many lectures on dating: "Now if you ever want someone to like you, make them laugh. Laughing with someone makes you want to be around them more, even if you don't consciously know it."

So when I see Will and Cameron giggling together and touching, it sends warning signals to my brain. And it doesn't help that Cam's from the Aphrodite cabin, because, let's face it, half of those dudes are gay.

Once the two of them get into the senior camper circle, Mr. D calls for attention. It makes me feel a little better when Will slips his hand into mine, but I stay focused on Mr. D. "I know you all wanted a day off, but you're too important to have days off.

"Right now, you all are just random, hormonal teenagers. But when I'm done with you, you'll be the deadliest, baddest kids around," he pauses to quiet us down. I look at Will curiously. "So from now on, you will all report to me. I will train you all personally."

I look around and notice how many of us there are. The Stoll brothers are next to Miranda Gardner, obviously bothering her. Leo, Piper, Percy and Annabeth are all listening intently to what Mr. D's saying, even though Annabeth looks a little bored. Clarisse is holding hands with Chris Rodriguez, leaving Cameron, Will and I next to Mr. D. Mr. D's right, the 12 of us form an odd group of kids.

Mr. D looks at the group in front of him and sighs. "Since you all seen _so _tired, I think I may give you the day off. Just remember, tomorrow you all report to me straight away. After that, we'll split from the phalanxes and start your individual training. Dismissed."


	30. Chapter 30

**Hi guys, so I realized I had some faulty facts in the previous chapter. I've fixed it now, but I though Katie Gardner was the head of the Demeter cabin, while in reality, Miranda is (as of ****_The Lost Hero_****). Sorry about the mixup but it's all fixed. Enjoy.**

Capter 30:

The next day, I forget about he whole thing with Will and Cameron, and I find myself actually excited to work with Mr. D. Instead of checking in with Jamie, I go straight to Mr. D. Leo and Miranda Gardner are already next to him, chatting together.

"So, how's the wall going? I haven't seen many Hephaestus campers in phalanx training lately," Miranda says intently.

"Yeah, Chiron took us out of Mr. D's training to get it done as quickly as possible. He says that's our number one priority now," Leo explains. "How is phalanx training going for you guys? How's your cabin liking it?"

The Demeter cabin isn't known to be the most aggressive or tough, but they are surprisingly athletic and strong. I got to know a couple during the battle, and they're really good fighters. In fact, the three nature cabins, the Dionysus, Persephone, and Demeter cabin are all very athletic. They also work great together, whether it's in the strawberry fields or during capture-the-flag.

"Most of my siblings love it. We're with the Persephone and Dionysus cabin, so we're all friends there. Some of the lazier ones complain that we're not spending enough time in the fields, but I love it," Miranda responds. Her green eyes light up when she talks. "I'm excited for the individual training though, I wonder what it's going to be."

She turns and passes the conversation to me. "Oh, me too," I say, startled to be added to this conversation. Her warm smile encourages me on. "I think it has something to do with our powers, because what else would be that specific?"

She nods in agreement. "Yeah, it'll be fun to actually be taught our specific powers," she turns to Mr. D, who's not paying attention. She's right, though. None of us were ever taught how to use our unique powers; I, luckily, spend a lot of time in the Underworld and trained there with the various death gods. Other people just have to learn from their siblings, or in Percy's case, figure it out themselves.

Percy and Annabeth walk up to the three of us together. They both look exponentially better than yesterday/ "It looks like the day off really helped," Leo observes.

"Surprisingly yes," Percy drapes his arm around Annabeth as she talks. "And no bad dreams, which was great." She looks at me while talking about the dreams. I nod back to her; Will and I didn't have the torturous dreams last night either. This solidifies my idea that the dreams are connected somehow.

Everyone else slowly files in, with Clarisse and Chris ambling in last. Mr. D finally turns to us and smiles. "Okay, we can finally start."

Before saying anything else, he leads us away from the phalanxes and into a quieter area. "Okay, so now that we're all here, it's time to start. Each of you will have me mentoring you on your individual skills. Some will have to pair up, just for convenience sake, but we'll worry about that later.

"As you know, each of you have a set of unique powers. But the thing is, you were never taught how to use them, which can be dangerous. That's why I'm here," Mr. D flashes us a smile as if he's the savior of the day.

"Shouldn't Chiron be doing this stuff? Isn't he the 'hero trainer'?" Annabeth says a little too condescendingly.

Mr. D turns to her with a fake smile. "Good observation, girl. I have consulted him on each of your skills, and plus, he can't do this." He snaps and flashes purple for a second. When my eyes readjust, there's ten Mr. D's smiling around us. And they all start talking at the same time with that fake smile.

"Leo, with me."

"Clarisse, over here."

"Come here Miranda."

Annabeth and Percy stay together in one group, while, to my distain, Will and Cameron stay together as the other group of two. I find the Mr. D calling my name and follow him to a quiet corner. I get a good look at him to see if there's anything different about him.

"I'm still the same gorgeous, hilarious Mr. D," he smiles as we walk. "Just now there's ten of me."

"But how can you do that? Isn't it hard to concentrate with ten bodies?" I look back and see the other nine Dionysus' chatting with the other demigods.

"It's not that hard to split ten times, that's how us gods are in multiple places at once. Past ten, and I get a bit shaky, but ten me's are easy to control. But can we get back to your training?" Mr. D faces me once we get to a corner of the Arena.

"So, you're the tricky one out of the bunch, because there hasn't been many Hades kids around to show us their powers. But I have sources and I think I may know a little more about your powers."

I'm pretty confident in my powers, so I jump right in. "Well, I have a couple different powers. I can summon skeletons." I flick my wrist up and summon three skeletons with Celestial Bronze swords.

"How many can you summon at once?" Mr. D asks me before I can show off anything else.

I take a moment to think, while the skeletons look around nervously. "I think I can do 20 at once? It'll drain me, but I can do it."

Mr. D nods. "20 of these?" He points to the three skeletons next to me.

"Yeah, but that's not all I can do. I can summon hellhounds as well," I flick my wrists again, and a hellhound materializes from the shadows of the Arena. "With those, I can summon around twelve. On a good day."

Mr. D stays quiet, so I keep going. "I can also Shadow Travel, which I'm probably the best at."

"How accurate are your jumps?" He asks, probably knowing that's the hardest part of Shadow Traveling.

As a response, I wrap myself in darkness, and Shadow Travel right next to him. That was a little tolling on me, so I take a tired breath.

"Cheeky." Mr. D rolls his eyes. "But good. How many people can you bring with you?"

"I haven't jumped with anyone recently, but I'd say around four or five. I can also Shadow Travel objects as well," I bend down to pick up a rock and throw it in the air. I wrap the pebble in darkness and Shadow Travel it above Mr. D's head. It's just a few inches off, and hits him on the shoulder.

Mr. D gives me an annoyed look, but praises me. "Good. Wow, you're very skilled. I'm assuming you were taught some of this while in the Underworld?"

"Yeah, I spent a lot of time down there, so I tried to make the best out of it," I move on, wanting to change the subject. "I also can strike fear in people, and kill plants around me, but only when I get very emotional."

I pause to think of anything else in my arsenal of powers. "Oh, and I can make walls of darkness. But I don't do that a lot, I must admit." I conjure up a wall, as big as my face and hold it there. It takes a lot of concentration to keep it there, but it lets me take a moment to actually look at it.

The darkness isn't exactly black, it's darker than black. It warps the things around it, sucking in their color. Finally, it drains so much of me that it wavers, and the darkness collapses on itself.

"Okay then we know what to work with," Mr. D smiles his annoying smile.


	31. Chapter 31

**Sorry. I need to figure out the next few chapters and where they're going. Thanks for sticking with me. Enjoy.**

"Keep it up, come on. Ten more seconds," Mr. D urges me on while looking at his stopwatch. I focus on the large patch of darkness in front of me and keep it from collapsing on itself.

I cast a quick glance to Mr. D and he shows me the timer. It beeps on the three-, two-, and one-second mark, until the ten minutes are over. I drop my shaking hands and take a deep breath. "Good job, Nico. That was really good."

I nod as a response because I'm too busy trying to catch my breath. "But that was really good, honestly. Just three days ago, you couldn't even hold the darkness for a minute." Mr. D says while taking notes on his clipboard.

It's so odd getting praise from Mr. D that I just kind of grunt as a thanks. I try to steady my ragged breaths and Mr. D gives me a cloth to wipe my forehead with.

As I take my small break, I take a look at Miranda Gardner's training. Now, she's making a wall of thorns ten feet high and growing. "Wow," I comment. "That's impressive."

Mr. D looks up from his clipboard and looks at what I'm seeing. "Yeah her training is really going great. She's growing a lot."

I look at him with an annoyed look, not impressed by his pun. "So, what next?" I ask and eat a bite of ambrosia.

"Are you sure you want to move on? Do you have enough strength?"

"Yes, of course I do." It's still before lunchtime, and I barely used any of my energy. I'm feeling alert and ready.

"Okay, then here's your next drill. Make steps out of the darkness and walk up them," Mr. D reads from his clipboard. He looks up at me and nods. He must have seen my eyes widen because he reassures me, "Don't worry, take your time."

I let out a breath and start concentrating. Making the three slabs of darkness is hard enough, they're uneven and not straight, but neither am I, so they should do. I finally get five "steps" of darkness, if you can call them steps, and I move to step on them.

Without losing my concentration, I lift my foot to the first step. I successfully place my foot on the darkness, but the moment i put some weight on it, it dissolves and I stumble forward. That loses my concentration and the other four steps dissolve with the first.

Mr. D catches me before I can face-plant into the ground and helps me back up. "Ok, try it again. But maybe make one or two steps at a time."

I nod and take Mr. D's advice. I start with only two horizontal slabs of darkness. I concentrate hard on the first step, and tentatively place my foot on it. I place a little weight on it and it holds.

I put my whole weight on it and I can physically feel the strain of keeping the step from dissolving. Once my whole weight is on the first step, I concentrate on getting a foot on the next step; but in doing that, I lose concentration and my foot falls through the step.

Mr. D catches me again before I fall and motions me toward everyone else. "Lunch break."

After lunch, Mr. D brings us all together for an announcement. "Okay, now that you've been practicing your individual skills for a while now, it's time to put them to the test. I'm going to pair you all together and you'll duel from now on."

Murmurs break out before Mr. D can move on, so he waits for it to die down. I instantly look at Will to fight, knowing it'll be a lot of fun. But before I can catch his eye, Cameron nudges him and they giggle. I try not to get too angry, but the grass around my feet wither. Hopefully no one notices.

I eventually get paired up with Clarisse; Mr. D tried to mix up all the couples, but in doing so, he put Will and Cameron together, and by the looks of it, they're pretty much a couple.

Clarisse distracts me from those thoughts and puts my mind on not getting cleaved in half. Apparently Clarisse and Mr. D have been doing a lot of weight training and footwork because she is hitting stupidly hard and moving stupidly fast.

She's pressing me so hard that I barely have time to use any of my newly honed skills. She has her electric sword in one hand and a nasty looking dagger in another. I'm wary of the dagger; I don't think they're supposed to glow red normally.

Every time I parry an incoming attack, her blade comes as a second attack and I have to throw myself backwards to avoid the gleaming dagger. None of her blows are the same, one time the dagger attacks first, then her sword follows up. The only thing saving me are my shadow walls. if it weren't for them, her sword would have left more holes in me than a pincushion.

She finally lets her guard down and exposes her lower body. I mentally take hold of a rock and fling it at her leg. It comes from behind her, so it totally catches her off guard. With her left leg not functioning, I press that side, slashing at her left arm. Even with a dead leg, she moves quickly.

When she slashes at me with her sword, I don't even think about parrying, I just summon a wall of shadows to block it. Her dagger is too low to block my sword, so I'm free to counterattack. I slap her with the flat of my blade and stun her for a moment.

A moment was all I needed. I hit her again and bring her to her knees. I bring my black sword next to her neck, and she submits.

"That was a low blow, Neeks," Clarisse says bitterly. She gets up and gives me a menacing look. "How was I supposed to dodge that? I didn't even see that coming."

"I know, but gods, you're fast. If I didn't do that, there was no way I'd win. You're a killing machine." Seeing that Clarisse was mildly annoyed, complimenting her, especially about her battling skills, would bring her back into a good mood.

And, of course, it was true.


	32. Chapter 32

**Finally something's happening. Enjoy.**

Chapter 32:

After Clarisse and I sparred a couple more rounds, which she won each time, Mr. D called for a break. Clarisse looked a little bummed out, probably having a blast pummeling me. I was so relieved, I wasn't that angry when I saw Will and Cameron together.

Don't get me wrong, I was still angry, but it's become so normal to see them together, always smiling. It got me thinking; maybe I didn't smile enough. But that's stupid, I'm the son of Hades, it's part of my résumé that I don't smile. Maybe I wasn't a good archer, but that's also part of my résumé. I just don't know what I'm doing wrong.

Once the twelve of us are all together, Mr. D makes some announcements. "First of all, and most importantly, our impending doom. The Romans have been sending eagles to scout out the monster army, but none have returned. For all we know, the army could be partying at a bar in New York City. And that's a problem. We already lost if we don't know anything about the enemy.

"I plan to fix that. We'll be sending two scouting groups, trying to get as much information as possible. The first group will be," Mr. D pauses to look at his hand. "Trellis, Pepper, and Annabelle."

It takes a few moments for the group to understand Mr. D's mispronunciations, but when we do, it brings mixed emotions to the group. The three that were named are obviously happy, even though Mr. D butchered their names. Piper and Annabeth are overjoyed that they're in the same group. I can tell Percy's nervous he wont be with Annabeth, thinking he still needs to protect her.

"I'd do a way better job at this than Travis," Connor says loudly, which prompts Travis to stick his tongue out at his brother.

I'm kind of bummed out I wasn't part of that group, but knowing my luck, Will and Cameron are going to be in the next group together.

Mr. D waves his hand to get our attention, and we all quiet down. The nine of us that weren't chosen are crossing our fingers, hoping to be called.

"The last scouting group will be," Mr. D pauses to look up at us with a sly smile. "Miranda," she lets out a happy squeal. "Cameron," who starts smiling.

My heart sinks, knowing for sure the last name is Will. Cameron even looks at Will, hoping the exact opposite of what I want.

"And Nico." I'm so deep in thought about Cameron and my boyfriend that I barely register when my name's called. I only start to notice my name was called when people start looking at me. Not jealously, they're too nice for that, but maybe mild envy.

This has got to be the most random three campers in our little group. In the last group, Piper and Annabeth were together, but I barely know these two kids. This is going to be one hell of a quest.

Miranda comes up to me a pats my back, bringing me back to reality. "This'll be fun," she smiles. Cameron looks at me with disappointment but he covers it up with a smile.

I smile, for Miranda's sake. "Yeah, we'll go kick some monster ass," I try to sound excited, but it comes out half-heartedly. I glance at Will, afraid to see his reaction, but he just smiles and gives me a thumbs-up.

Cameron walks up to us and introduces himself. "I don't think we've ever met, I'm Cameron."

They shake hands and Miranda introduces herself. "This is going to be a lot of fun, I can tell already."

_Not for me. _But I don't say anything out loud, I just keep smiling.

Chiron stamps his foot to get our attention back and starts saying some instructions. "So, the six of you that were chosen will be leaving tonight; the sooner the better. Miranda, your group will go east, seeing if they're heading inland. Annabeth, stick to the coast." He pauses to look at Mr. D. "The rest of you will keep up your training."

The campers who weren't chosen to scout all start grumbling, and everyone disperses for lunch. Instead of sitting with Will, Miranda calls me over to sit with her and Cameron.

"Guys, this is gonna be so much fun," she repeats before I even sit down. I roll my eyes, hoping she won't be like this the whole mission. I can tell it's her first quest because everyone is super excited on their first quest.

That's before they get into a life-threatening situation.

I don't know if I'm being extra morbid, or it's just part of my whole child-of-Hades facade, but I'm hoping it's sooner rather than later.

I can tell it's Cameron's first quest as well, because he actually listens to what Miranda has to say. It's hard to believe that Mr. D chose them two for the mission if they've had no prior experience.

I guess I make up for the experience. I've been at Camp Half Blood for barely three months total in my whole life, and the rest is spent in the real world. "Do you have any allergies, so when I get food, I know what not to get?" Cameron looks at me expectantly.

_Wow, they're really covering their bases._

"What? Um, no. How about you?" I try to sound involved, but it comes out as distant.

"I'm a vegetarian, but I can grow pretty much all the food we need. If you want meat, I can attract some animals for you," Miranda responds with a little discomfort. "But I don't really like calling animals so we can slaughter them."

"I guess I can go vegetarian for this quest," Cameron shrugs and prolongs the word _guess_ in a Southern drawl. I try to study him closely, trying to read what he really thinks.

I know it's wrong to assume, but I'm pretty sure he's gay. The fact that he has big, pink wristbands and he's a kid of Aphrodite are big indicators of gayness. Obviously, not all Aphrodite sons are gay, many are metrosexual, but statistically he's more likely to be gay.

This is all putting aside the fact that he's flirting with my boyfriend.

I look away when he looks at me and he smiles. "Will always talks about you, it's nice to finally talk to you in person."

The nerves of this kid. I try to keep my cool, but I can feel the grass around me wilting. Miranda looks up from her sandwich, confused. I take a breath and give Cameron a cold smile. "Yeah, we'll get to know each other great on the quest."

Miranda, who's sitting across from me, peeks under the table between bites and gives me a disapproving look. "Try not to do that," she snaps and the grass grows back to life. "It hurt me just as much as it hurt the grass."

I look down, spooked that the grass is back alive. "Wait, you _felt_ that?" I suddenly feel bad for all the times I've inadvertently killed grass.

"Well, I felt something." When she sees my confused look, she explains. "I'm connected to the nature wherever I go. So I can feel if something around me dies. It doesn't hurt when they die, I just sense its death."

"Woah, that's so cool," Cameron says with a mouthful of salad. "So do you feel it if we step on the grass?" He's suddenly aware that his feet are on the grass and pulls himself into a fetal position on the bench.

Miranda smiles. "Don't worry, I can't tell. And neither does the grass, really. So you're good." Cameron slowly unravels from his fetal position and putts feet down.

This whole time, I've barely been paying attention, but a movement out of the corner of my eye makes me look up. Leo's on top of a picnic bench, waving for our attention. I signal my head toward Leo, and the two of them turn to face Leo.

"Hey guys, um, before you go, I've been working on something for all of us. It's a phone of sorts, but without the while monster-attracting thing," Leo grabs one from the picnic table he's standing on. "It's pretty much an iPhone with a mini headpiece that goes in your ear. So you'll all be able to communicate with each other, either through text, or through calling. I have all you're phone numbers programmed in, including Chiron and Mr. D's phone numbers."

After the phones are all handed out, Chiron calls for attention. "The next few weeks are going to be intense. I'll need 100% from all of you. From now on, we're at war."


	33. Chapter 33

**Enjoy.**

Chapter 33:

With that, Chiron dismisses the six kids going on the scouting mission to get ready. I don't have much to bring besides my sword and some nectar, but I check my room just in case. I grab a couple more skull rings and some cash. Will's been teaching me some first aid in our free time, so I bring a first aid kit too.

The three of us agree to meet before sundown at the picnic tables to plan for the quest. I get there early to gather my thoughts. When Cameron walks up to our meeting spot, I shake my head and try not to lose my patience already. "We're gonna be walking a lot for the next couple of days, I don't think you want a thirty pound backpack to carry around with you. Just bring the basics."

"I am carrying the basics," he gives me a cold look. "And half of it is my bow and quiver." He's about to add something, but Miranda walks up before he can.

"Hey guys, you ready?" She asks in a cheery voice that makes me cringe. "Um Cameron? Are you sure you can carry all that? It seems a bit much for just a couple of days out of camp."

I can't help but smile when Miranda agrees with what I said. Cameron huffs and slips off his duffel bag. He takes out the bow and arrows and sets them to one side of the picnic table. "Ok, since y'all are experts on packing for scouting missions, what should I leave behind?"

He carefully takes out a stack of clothes and a large purse, or what looks like a purse. Miranda glances at the stack of clothes and _tsk's. _"Well first of all, you don't need your whole wardrobe. Maybe bring one pair of extra clothes, but that's it." At least _she_ knows what she's doing.

I grab the man purse and dump its contents on the table. Pouring out of it is at least a dozen small bottles, each one more colorful than the next. I pick a couple up to read the labels and I almost punch him. "Ok, and _why_ do you need two different types of lotion for the mission? Are you going to kill the monsters with your silky soft skin?" I keep looking through all the bottles and cast each one aside, all of them useless.

I think it's because he's hitting on Will, but everything Cameron does bothers me. Even now, while he's looking over my shoulder as I look through all his perfumes, I want to yell at him.

By the end of our search, Miranda and I have put aside most of Cameron's stuff. All he has left is his bow and arrows, one bottle of lotion (that he insisted he needed), and a t-shirt that says "South Carolina North Carolina".

"But what if my shorts rip. Or if a monster stains it?" His voice gets shrilly when he gets worried. "Am I just going to go around in my underwear?"

To stop him from complaining any longer, I toss a pair of shorts into his backpack. "Ok, now that y'all have raided my backpack, what's the game plan?"

Miranda jumps right into what she's planned. "Well, there's a train that leaves New York at nine to Philly, and we can find a place to sleep there. And since we have to go inland, we can—"

"Miranda, I can Shadow Travel. We'll jump to Philly, spend the night there so I can catch my breath, then we press forward," I interrupt her before I get a headache.

"What?" She is caught off guard at my interruption. "Oh, I guess that can work. But where are we going to sleep?"

I know Miranda means well, but she's being a little absurd right now. "This is not a wedding, we don't have a whole agenda. You can't plan everything; go with the flow"

Before I roast her further, I get up and take a deep breath. "I, um, forgot something in my cabin."

I don't know how I'm going to survive the next couple of days with these two. Miranda isn't that bad, but all I can see in her is a liability. I don't even know how she got chosen to be part of the 12 of us. She's a child of the _nature_ gods for Christ's sake.

Or Hercules's sake, I don't know.

When I get close to the Hades cabin, I notice someone leaning on the front wall. Before I can start yelling at them to leave, I notice the curly blonde hair.

After everything that's happened, he's the last person I expected to be at my cabin.

"Hey babe, I—" Before he can finish his sentence, I shove him up against the black walls of my cabin, grabbing the collar of his t-shirt. A look of surprise flashes on his face before I close my eyes and crush my mouth to his.

Now to be honest, the kiss wasn't exactly the same as what I've seen in all the romance movies; my teeth knock into his and I had to crane my neck to reach his lips. But once he realizes that we're kissing, he leans his head down and the kiss becomes perfect.

A smile spreads across his face and he goes limp against the wall. We keep kissing even after someone behind us shouts, "Get a room!"

I _was_ planning on confronting him about Cameron, but I'm okay with this.

Will finally breaks the kiss, panting. "Good to see you too," he says with a massive smile. "I came by to give you a goodbye gift."

"Don't call it goodbye," I reply darkly. My heart sinks as I realize I killed the mood. "Just a see-you-later present." I try to revive the mood with a smile, but I don't think it works.

"Okay, it's a see-you-soon gift," he hands me a small rectangular box. "Go on, open it." I open the top and inside is a pair of sunglasses. They're the same ones Will was using last time we went on the last mission. "I thought they'd be useful on your scouting mission. They can record whatever you see, so we know exactly what you're seeing."

I smile just at the thought that Will would think of me and give me a gift. Even though he is my boyfriend, he hasn't been very boyfriend-y, so his kindness catches me off guard.

"Oh this is great! Thanks," I close the box and kiss him again, this time less passionately. "I've missed you." Ever since Mr. D started training the twelve of us, Will and I haven't spent much time together; he hasn't slept in my room in a week because we're both so tired by the end of the day.

By the time we're done talking and kissing, the sky is dark and it's time for the scouts to leave. I give Will another goodbye kiss and walk toward our meeting spot.

Miranda's there, waiting, but Cameron's nowhere to be seen. She must have noticed my smile, even in the dark, because she comments, "Looks who's in a good mood now."

I try not to ruin it this time so I respond, "Yeah, and I'm sorry about snapping at you earlier. We're a team now, so we should act like one."

Miranda nods and sits down on the table. I lean on the side and drop my backpack on the floor. "Are you sure you can jump the three of us all the way to Philly? I don't want you tired on the first night of the mission."

"I'll be good. I've had tons of practice with Shadow Traveling, I'll just sleep it off when we land in Philadelphia," I smile at her concern, but I' tougher than I look.

Cameron finally shows up with his slimmed down backpack, and we prepare to go. "Okay, so when we jump, whatever you do, hold onto my hand. You'll probably stumble, fall, and puke when we land, which is all okay for your first time jumping. Just take deep breaths and remember: Don't. Let. Go."

It's not really _that _bad if they let go, they'll just fall into limbo for all eternity, alone and in the dark.

With that, I grab both their hands and squeeze them tight. Before they can protest, I lean into the nearest shadow and fall into the darkness.

I realize mid-jump that I should have warned them about the cold, but oh well, too late.

An instant later, I feel solid ground and know it's safe to let go of their hands. My heart races and some of my energy is sapped, more than usual since I took two other people with me.

Sure enough, both Cameron and Miranda stumble, fall, and puke almost simultaneously.

The only problem is, they puked right on a bear.


	34. Chapter 34

**This was a lot of fun to write. Enjoy.**

Chapter 34:

"Oh shit," I whisper, desperately hoping the bear won't notice the gallon of puke on its back.

Cameron can't manage to stay up, and stumbles to the ground next to the bear. Miranda fared a bit better and is on her knees.

At least they didn't stumble _onto _the bear.

Unfortunately, that didn't matter. The bear wakes up with a roar that probably woke up half the East Coast. Cameron doesn't even move when the bear almost tramples him.

However much I'd like the bear to crush him, I can't bring myself to let it happen. "Hey, over here, you hairy blob!" I don't know where that insult came from, but it did its job. The bear responds appropriately by turning to me and roaring.

That's when I actually get a good look at the the bear. Or the _lack_ of bear. The bear, or what I thought was the bear, has a human torso and a human head. The arms were just disproportionately large and hairy, as if bear limbs were attached to a human body. I can't tell if the man-bear understands English, but it sure seems upset at my jeers.

It rears on its hind legs right before charging, so I have a second to think. It's time to put my training to the test. I'm still a little worn out by the Shadow Traveling, so I have to be careful. If I go down, the three of us are doomed.

The bear charges at me, and I concentrate on the space between the two of us. I think up of a solid wall of darkness between us that should stop the bear, and once it solidifies, I brace for the impact.

The wall's pretty big, but I've handled bigger. The man-bear runs straight into the wall as if it's not there and-

The wall shatters. _Shatters. _

The bear-man doesn't even slow down. If anything, it's angrier that it ran into something.

The bear thing is so close to me, I can see its breath crystalize in the night air. I panic and Shadow Travel away, anywhere but there.

I was planning on staying close by, but I jumped a bit farther than expected. I land a few feet behind Cameron, who's crawled out of the fray of the battle.

The bear takes a second to reorganize itself, not grasping how I teleported away. That second of confusion lets me step in between the bear and Cameron. Miranda's nowhere to be seen which is both good and bad, but I don't dwell on it.

The combination of my mini Shadow Travel and the failed wall of darkness had unexpectedly drained me. I have no idea how I'm going to take on this bear guy, but I'm going to try.

I think of a few different options, all while the bear's turning around for another go at me. The problem is, the bear won't go down in one hit unless I can sever off its head, so it's going to be tough to take down alone. A pang of bitterness runs through me since I have to do this without anyone's help. But it passes quickly because I realize I always do things alone.

The bear finally turns, its beady eyes locked onto me. I don't even need to look into its eye to know its angry, the froth foaming on his mouth is a big enough indicator. Somewhere behind me, Cameron moans and clutches his stomach, probably oblivious to the fact that I'm about to get skewered.

Right before it's about to charge, I formulate a plan. If I can dodge its first charge, maybe I can get enough hits on it to kill it. I doubt it, but I'm sure as Hades going to try. I take a breath and keep my eye on the man-bear.

It clears half the distance between us before I can even prepare to jump out of the way. But as I tense my muscles, the night goes completely dark. I take a quick look up to see a _tree_ blotting out the moon.

A _falling _tree.

A split second later, the tree connects with the ground, sandwiching the unsuspecting bear man.

It happened so suddenly that the bear couldn't even let out a cry of defeat. I scramble back, away from the dust cloud of twigs and leaves. A small pile of yellow dust confirms my assumption that the monster is dead. I doubt any normal monster could survive an impact that massive. Another second goes by and I'm almost certain the three of us are out of danger.

Now that the monster's been killed, I scan around for Miranda and Cameron. Cameron's still behind me, laying in a liquid that smells suspiciously of vomit. Miranda's nowhere to be seen, but my intuition tells me to check out the base of the fallen tree.

I stumble over some branches until I see Miranda sitting on the exposed tree trunk. She turns to me with a weak smile.

"You saved my skin back there," I take a seat next to her on the trunk. She immediately puts her head on my shoulder and I can feel how drained she is.

"I didn't want to kill the tree, bu- but it was the only way," she explains and pats me on my leg. "You're much more important to me than a tree is." I think that's supposed to be a huge compliment from a nature demigod, so I just nod and murmur my thanks.

I reach into my pocket and give her a vial of nectar to drink. Without another word, she gets her head off my shoulder and curls up on the tree trunk we're sitting on. "I'm just going to take a small nap, okay?"

I get off the tree trunk to let her stretch her legs and find a soft patch of grass between her and Cam. I take a deep breath and place my palms on the ground.

Mr. D taught me this trick while we were training; he called it Tracking. If I can concentrate hard enough, I can tell where monsters are within a certain distance of me. It's kind of how I can tell if people are dying, but this is with monsters.

With Mr. D, I got my range up to around five miles around me, but I don't dare try that far. Being this tired, I go for two miles, and nothing comes up. A couple hellhounds are roaming around somewhere west of us, but they're not a threat to me.

Checking for monsters has drained me more than I expected, and with the lack of monsters, I take the risk and doze off, even though no one's taking watch.


	35. Chapter 35

**Wow I'm so sorry. I don't know how long it's been, but it's been too long, that's for sure. I'm re-motivated to write now that I know that a new series is coming out and I'm super excited. It's kind of weird knowing that we'll know about what actually happens after ****The Blood of Olympus****, and all my writing is just some wishful thinking. Oh well. Enjoy.**

Chapter 35:

I wake up the next morning warm and content. The first thing I notice is a blanket draped over me, something I didn't remember when I fell asleep last night. Sitting up, I get a better look at the blanket and to my astonishment, it's made of woven leaves and twigs. Cameron's also covered by a blanket similar to mine, still asleep.

"Hey sleepyhead," Miranda walks up to me and hands me a basket of fruit. "Eat up. Last night was a mess."

"Thanks," I grab a banana. "And thanks for the blanket. Do you know what time it is?" The combination of clouds and trees cover up the sun from where we're sitting.

She pulls out her smartphone and takes a bite out of an apple. "Yeah, it's almost noon." After a pause, she adds, "Sorry about last night. After Shadow Traveling, I felt so sick. I feel so bad you had to fight that bear on your own. I hate being useless."

We meet eyes and I give her a confused look. "What are you talking about? You saved my ass last night. Without you, we'd all be doomed."

"Yeah, but I didn't help you earlier. I'm sorry I didn't help you."

"Don't worry. We're a team now, we work together. We have each other's back," I think it's sweet that Miranda felt bad about not helping, but like what could she have done? She's the daughter of a nature goddess, and they're not very good at combat.

Just then, Cameron wakes up and yawns. "Hey guys!" The cheerfulness in his voice brings out some anger in me that I can't explain. "What's up?"

I give him a deadly scowl, wiping the smile off his face in an instant. "If you didn't faint last night like a wuss, then you'd know what happened." It's not uncommon for people to faint the first time they Shadow Travelled, I've even fainted a few times. But this irrational hatred bubbles up and I lash out.

"It's okay that you fainted, we're glad you're feeling better," Miranda tries to soften my insults, but Cameron still seems hurt. "What Nico was talking about was that after you fainted, a bear thing attacked us. I was also incapacitated, so we owe Nico for saving our hides."

"That's not true, you were the one that smushed the bear with a tree." I point to the fallen tree as proof. "Whatever. It's over, we need to keep moving."

With that, I get up and hand Cameron the basket of fruit. "Anyone know which way to go?" A chunk of pear flies from his mouth as he says that.

Miranda snaps in response, growing a sunflower right by her feet. "So if that's east," she points toward the direction that the sunflower is facing. "And we need to go south," she turns herself 90 degrees. "Then we need to go that way."

"I have no idea what you just did, but you seem like you know what you're doing," Just watching her figure out where to go gives me a headache. I can Shadow Travel wherever someone tells me to go, but they better not expect me to figure out if we're facing north or south.

Without another word, we start following Miranda "due south", whatever that means.

For almost the whole day we walked through the forest. Obviously, Cameron begged (more like politely asked) us to stop at least 20 (twice) times to take a break to eat or pee.

By the time the sun is halfway down the sky, I start getting a little aggravated too, just because nothing exciting has happened. Once we were assigned to this recon mission, it was a relief to get away from the air of crisis and impending war. But now that we're out in the real world, I've been on edge the whole day, half expecting the monster army to pop out of nowhere and pounce on us.

"Do you hear that?" Miranda looks around curiously and squints ahead of us. "It sounds like a whole party's up ahead."

She goes quiet again and I strain myself to try and hear something. Sure enough, I can make out the faint sound of people cheering ahead of us. I put up my hand to signal them to stop, and I draw my sword. Cameron follows my lead and pulls out his bow.

"What are you guys doing?" Miranda whispers harshly. "They sounds friendly enough and there's probably like a hundred of them. An ambush won't kill all of them, if they're hostile."

I scowl, but I see her point. I grudgingly put my sword away and I see Cameron do the same. As she walks toward the noise and people, she adds, "And if it's some mortal party, they wont appreciate us barging in with our weapons drawn. Just follow my lead."

Cameron looks at me and shrugs. I follow her, grateful I don't have to do the talking. I just hope the people won't be bothered by Miranda and I carrying swords on our belts.

Once we pass all the trees, with Miranda still in the front, the clearing is a lot bigger than anticipated. And much more filled up.

It turns out that it was actually an open arena, with a paved track and bleachers. We walk in during a race, with people on the bleachers screaming their lungs out. We cross into the arena and I take a moment to look for threats.

Everything seems so out of place; I feel like I'm at a college football game. There are guys with body paint all over their chest, people with matching t-shirts, and the stench of spilled beer. The only question is why this is all happening in the middle of nowhere.

The crowd goes even crazier as the runners get closer to the finish line. I squint to see the outcome and notice the only girl dash by the finish line before any other runner can.

"What kind of race is co-ed? I thought there were different divisions for men and women," Cameron whispered to me.

I shrug and try to figure out what is going on. I'm not easily surprised, being a demigod makes you see pretty weird things, but this is a little odd.

In the middle of the bleachers is throne box with two older people sitting on thrones. It kind of reminds me of the movies with gladiators fighting in the Colosseum and the Roman Emperor sitting in his own little box.

Before I point them out, Miranda is on the move. And she's heading straight toward the thrones. "Wait, wait. Why would we want to talk to those old people. They seem like the ones in charge," I try to argue with her.

"I told you, stay quiet. I'll do the talking," she responds while dragging Cameron with us. "And don't draw your weapons. Be friendly."

Without any other plan, I follow her toward the podium. We stick near the bleachers as to not stand out more than possible. On our way there, I notice the girl who won the footrace walk toward the podium where we're going as well.

Once we get to the podium, the man on the throne finally notices us and the two of us. A broad smile crosses his face and he booms, "Yet another suitor has arrived!"


	36. Chapter 36

**I really like where this is going. Enjoy.**

Chapter 36:

I stop in my tracks, very confused. He was looking at _me_ when he made that announcement. What is he even talking about? I look to Miranda for guidance, but she looks just as confused as I do.

Before I can do anything else, the man pulls me toward the girl and starts blabbering some rules. "So, it's pretty straightforward. If you beat my daughter in a footrace, you get to marry her. If she beats you, death."

"What? I think you have the wrong person, I didn't sign up for this," I try to explain, but the man is in the zone. He drags me toward the starting line, where the girl is walking casually next to me.

"Wait, wait. I don't even like girls. I'm ga-" I try to explain, but the man is in his own world.

Then everything clicks. Back at Camp, during history class, I remember reading about a girl who made all her suitors race her for her hand in marriage. I wrack my brain, trying to put a name to this story and how to get out of this mess.

"She's Atalanta!" I hear Miranda's voice call somewhere behind me, and a small smile spreads across my face. Of course, how could I forget? She's like the most famous female hero out there.

There's no way I can outrun this girl, I read somewhere that her 100 meter dash is somewhere under 10 seconds. And the human record is like 9 seconds. So I need to find another way to beat her, but I can't remember how she lost the race.

"You're pretty cute. I wouldn't mind maybe having some kids with you one day. Too bad you'll never beat me," Atalanta laughs and puts her hair up in a ponytail.

"What if you let me win? Then we'd have a lovely little family," I ask and give her my less-than-dazzling smile. Hey, if I have to go straight just to stay alive, then I suddenly love boobs!

Unfortunately, and somewhat fortunately, she shakes her head. "No such luck, hot stuff. I never lose any of my races."

The man finally releases my arm when we get to the starting line. The only thing I can think of is to stall, so here goes nothing. "Okay, so how many laps is it? Will there be a break in between?"

Apparently, something I said was hilarious because he starts filling the quasi-stadium with his laughter. "You are a funny one, little boy. No breaks, and two laps around. Godspeed."

I see Atalanta put her feet on the starting bricks, and I try to copy her as best as I can. I take a quick look at her toned hamstrings and know there's no possibility I'm going to win this. That doesn't mean I won't survive, that's up to Miranda and Cameron for now.

Before the race begins, the crowd goes silent as they wait for the starting signal. I take a quick peek to look for my companions, but they're busy talking to some woman.

The starting gun is cocked, and I straighten my legs a bit, just following what Atalanta's doing.

I brace myself for the gun to fire, and once it does, I start sprinting full-speed. I don't think I'm doing too bad, but when the dust settles two seconds later, Atalanta's covered twice the distance I have.

_Fuck._

I don't stop running, but my legs start burning and my lungs are gasping for all the air they can get. No wonder I don't go running, this is hell. I run around the second bend and mouth a silent _help_ to Miranda, praying she knows what to do.

My scrawny legs can only go so far, but I get the most out of every stride. I mean, I might as well try, just in case they do find a way out of this for me. Atalanta passes the first lap mark, and I'm lagging farther and farther behind. Considering she could probably be in the Olympics, I'm not too far back. She obviously isn't trying her hardest, but still, I can feel slightly good about myself if this really is my last hour alive.

But as she passes the first bend, I see Cameron throw something shiny onto the race course. Atalanta sees him throwing it and laughs, "Ha! That won't work this ti-"

She passes the object, but as she does, she stops in her tracks and even backpedals to take a closer look at them. "Ar-, are those _golden_ Apple products?"

I have no idea what she's talking about, but I don't care. I see her putting on some smartwatch, with a gold colored iPhone in her hand. "This is even better than the last golden apple I got!" I hear her gasp in excitement as I get closer.

I don't want to spook her out of her trance, so I hold my breath as I pass her. When I see the golden Apple logo on the phone in her hands, the rest of Atalanta's story floods into my mind.

I let out my pent-up breathe and almost laugh out of relief. I round the next bend with Atalanta still transfixed by her new gadgets and slow down just a bit. I silently thank Cameron and Miranda for their quick thinking and saving my hide.

I look back a second later to make sure she's still playing with her new toys and accidentally make eye contact with her. My heart skips three beats and I pray to all the gods that she doesn't snap out of her trance. Thankfully, all she does is furrow her eyebrows in confusion for a moment and the just turns back to her gadgets.

The crowd gets louder and louder as I get closer to the finish line and I cross it at a light jog, with Atalanta still at the first bend in the track. The crowd goes bananas and somehow starts chanting my name, even though I never introduced myself.

"NI-_CO!_ NI-_CO!_" All their chanting is nice to being with, but gets annoying pretty quickly. Today was not a good day to wear black (which I wear every day, regardless of the weather), and the back of my t-shirt is plastered to my back in sweat.

I instantly start walking towards Miranda and Cameron to go thank them for distracting Atalanta, but the man on the throne intercepts me and starts shaking my hand profusely.

"Amazing job out there, Nico. Phenomenal work. I didn't believe it in a million years that any man could beat my daughter in a footrace, but you did it beautifully. We can start arranging the marri—"

"Look, sir. I don't want to marry your daughter. I'm gay. I like boys, not your daughter," I shake off his grip and march off to Miranda, leaving him in the dust.


	37. Chapter 37

**I'm so pumped for the new series. In the meantime, read some of this. Enjoy.**

Chapter 37:

Miranda comes up to me and embraces me tightly. I let her, even though I hate hugs, just because she saved my skin out there.

"That was amazing you two. I'm so happy you thought about it in time. I was getting worried while I was running," I praise them, and even give Cameron a high-five. But then I notice a guy, more specifically Will, leaning against a tree a couple feet away.

He looks up and smiles, and before I know it, I'm crashing into him and pressing my lips against his.

They feel different though, and I feel him pushing me away. Confused, I look up at him, and it's not Will that I'm hugging.

I quickly push away from him and wipe my lips. "Aphrodite! Oh my gods, I'm so sorry. I should have known," I shake my head and back away slowly, hoping she doesn't zap me into a dove or something.

She spits on the ground and looks at me warily. "That was an odd sort of greeting, to say the least. I was expecting more of a 'thank you', not a full-blown make-out session."

"Um, yeah Nico, miss Aphrodite here was kind enough to let us use her gadgets," Cameron explains awkwardly.

This gets my attention, and I realize that we're talking to Aphrodite and I know something is up. Last time I ran into a love god (cough cough, Cupid), it didn't end well. So I watch my tongue, knowing that she let me off easy of making out with her.

"Well, that was very kind of you to save me," I try to be as polite as possible.

"It's no big deal. My lovely husband Hephaestus keeps me updated on the latest of technologies," her reply is dripping with sarcasm, and I feel a pang of sadness of Hephaestus. "And plus, I never liked Atalanta; she was always trying to evade love. It never works."

I don't know if it's the heat or my sweat-coated t-shirt or Aphrodite's aura of love and affection, but I get a little impatient. Every demigod knows that gods don't just show up to save people, they always come with a cause.

"So, miss Aphrodite, what brings you here to the middle of nowhere?" I try to ask politely while grinding my teeth. Nothing good ever comes out of talking to the goddess of love.

This brings a sly grin to Aphrodite's face. "I don't know, maybe Cameron could answer that question." She turns to Cameron, who has a mortified look on his face.

_Oh no,_ I know exactly what's going to happen; after all, it happened to me in Croatia just a few months back. I almost, _almost_, feel bad for Cameron.

"Wha-, what?" He takes a step back with his eyes still wide with fear. "I- I, uh, don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh stop it, everyone knows. It's a dead giveaway if you have posters of Freddy Mercury and David Bowie in you bunk," Aphrodite snaps. "Just say those three words that have kept you up night after night."

I look at Aphrodite in horror and see Miranda doing the same. Poor Cameron is reduced to tears and hiccuping, no matter how hard he tries to suppress them. I can feel Aphrodite's aura strengthen and press against Cameron, trying to break through his barriers.

Finally, Cameron stops hiccuping long enough to whisper, "I, I like boys." I see his legs shake and I run up to catch him before he tumbles to the ground.

He starts sobbing into my shoulder and looks at Aphrodite with pure hatred. "I hate you Mother!"

Aphrodite smiles, almost sadly, and shakes her head. "No you don't sweetheart, you hate love. Love is painful, my dear." She does a little spin and vanishes from under the tree with a little _whoosh_.

In that moment, Will also gets veiled in a pink aura for a split second, and when he comes out of it, he looks different. He barely notices, since his head is still buried in my shoulder, but Miranda does.

"See, Cameron? It wasn't all that bad. She gave you her Aphrodite's blessing and you got a whole makeover," she comes over to us and gives him a hug.

"R-really? I thought that only happens when you're claimed," he sniffles bt doesn't let go of my arm.

"Well, I guess in a way, today you claimed yourself. It was very brave," Miranda keeps soothing him, hoping to get him out of his crying slump.

" I guess," he sniffles onto my t-shirt again and I try not to gag. "And Nico," he looks up at me. "I'm sorry for liking your boyfriend. It's just that he complimented me and made me feel good about myself. I couldn't stop myself."

It hits me at that moment, that the two of us aren't that different. I mean, we both grappled with emotions that we didn't want to face, we both fell in love with people that we couldn't be with (cough, cough, Percy), and went through similar torture with love gods. This realization sends a flood, albeit tiny, of sympathy for him and I stop myself from giving him a snappy response.

"It's okay. When we get back to camp, I'll help you find a better guy than Will," I shock myself by lending him my help in finding a boyfriend, even though I have no idea how to find a boyfriend. And plus, there is no guy better than Will, but I leave that part out.

He looks up at me again and seems so small and vulnerable. "Really?" He even gives me a small smile.

I don't know where all this kindness is coming from, but I know what he's going through and am trying to do my best to comfort him. Jason was there for me when I had to go through all of this, so I'm trying my best to replicate what he did. I mean, it's hard enough coming out to yourself, and being forced to come out is pure torture.

I give him a small smile. "Yeah, let's finish this damn quest so we can go home and find you a boyfriend."


End file.
